Patients living in rural or frontier counties in the U.S. have a 10% higher chance of dying after a cancer diagnosis than those in cities. This is mostly because they have less access to special treatments, face delays in diagnosis, and have fewer clinical trials available. The Huntsman Cancer Institute, which serves states like Utah, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, found that distance is a main barrier stopping rural patients from getting timely and effective cancer care.
One big problem is that many rural patients cannot travel often to city medical centers where most clinical trials and special cancer treatments are offered. These patients often have to spend a lot of money on travel, lodging, lost wages, and medical costs. Studies show that financial problems affect 50% to 70% of cancer patients treated in community settings. This leads to delays in treatment and worse health results.
Access to clinical trials is another major gap. Over 80% of cancer patients in the U.S. get care in community oncology clinics. Still, more than half of patients never get to join clinical trials because of geographic and logistical problems. This is especially true for rural areas that have fewer cancer specialists and limited testing options. Without trials, many patients miss new treatments like CAR T-cell therapies and genetic screening.
Decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) use digital tools, local doctors, and remote monitoring so patients can join trials without traveling far. Instead of only going to big city centers, patients can participate at local clinics or even at home.
By bringing trials to the patient, DCTs reduce travel time, cost, and life disruptions. These trials often use telemedicine, mobile health tools, and local labs to collect data from a distance. This method helps keep track of patients continuously and includes more people from rural, low-income, and minority groups who usually participate less in research.
The Huntsman Cancer Institute uses decentralized trials to grow access for rural patients by working with local healthcare providers. This helps reduce distance barriers and delivers treatment closer to where patients live.
George Eastwood from the Emily Whitehead Foundation says that follow-up care for treatments like CAR T-cell therapy can last up to 15 years and cause big challenges for rural families. Remote monitoring in decentralized trials helps lower these long-term travel and cost problems, making it easier to continue treatment.
But rural patients still face challenges. Smaller hospitals may not know about advanced therapies, so they refer fewer patients to trials. Also, community hospitals often cannot offer certain treatments without help from bigger centers or drug companies. Patrick Hanley from Children’s National Hospital supports creating partnerships to improve care in rural areas.
Barriers to advanced cancer care are not only about location but also about social and economic factors. Research shows that income, education, transportation, and health knowledge all affect cancer outcomes. Patients in underserved rural areas have more than 20% higher death rates than those in wealthy cities.
Ethnic minorities and lower-income people face extra challenges like language differences, cultural issues, and distrust of medical systems. This lowers their chance to join clinical trials or get healthcare. Dr. Jacqueline Barry from Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult explains that fixing these problems takes efforts in patient education, provider training, and better support systems.
Decentralized trials, along with community help and patient navigation services, can bridge these social and money gaps. Patient navigators guide people through logistics, explain trial steps, and offer support that respects culture. Financial help programs also help patients handle costs linked to care and trial participation.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and workflow automation are becoming important for decentralized trials and better cancer care in rural areas. Technology can simplify trial planning, patient management, and data study while reducing work for healthcare staff.
Using AI and automation in rural clinics can improve workflow, patient participation in trials, and care coordination. It helps fill staff gaps common in small clinics and lets providers spend more time with patients.
To increase cancer care access through decentralized trials, community clinics need to work with bigger academic centers. This teamwork lets small clinics use advanced tools, trial options, and expert knowledge without patients having to move.
About 80% to 85% of cancer patients get treatment in community clinics, but over half do not take part in trials. Academic-community partnerships increase trial access and improve treatment by sharing expertise.
Programs like Huntsman Cancer Institute’s rural patient navigation and decentralized trial systems show the benefits of these partnerships. Academic centers handle trial oversight and advanced testing, while local providers give regular care and monitoring near patients’ homes.
Medical administrators and IT workers in rural clinics play key roles in supporting decentralized clinical trials and cancer care:
By doing these things, rural clinics can better offer new cancer treatments that used to be available only in city hospitals.
Decentralized clinical trials offer a way to reduce unfair gaps in cancer care by bringing research and treatment to patients no matter where they live. Rural people in the United States face big problems because of both location and social factors, but these can be eased through trial models that use AI, automation, and teamwork networks.
Medical leaders and IT staff have a big job in building systems and workflow that support these models. Making sure all patients can access new cancer therapies needs ongoing focus on technology, training, and partnerships. Institutions like Huntsman Cancer Institute show that passing over distance and social barriers can lead to better results for cancer patients, including those in rural areas with fewer resources.
Huntsman Cancer Institute aims to improve cancer outcomes for rural and frontier populations through research, innovative care delivery models, and overcoming distance as a barrier to access.
AI enhances healthcare delivery by providing innovative solutions that bridge gaps in access, enabling remote patient monitoring, predictive analytics, and personalized treatment strategies.
Huntsman Cancer Institute offers rural patient navigation services and Huntsman at Home™, a unique model for delivering cancer care at home.
Decentralized clinical trials allow participants in rural areas to access cutting-edge treatments and trials through local partnerships, minimizing travel barriers.
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Key research areas include rural/frontier cancer needs, breast cancer screening, melanoma care, and health care delivery transformation through technology.
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