Dr. Sarah E. Matt Spills the Tea on the Quiet Rural Renaissance and the Future of Care

Welcome back to HITea With Grace, where we spill the tea on healthcare IT. This episode takes a hard look beyond the AI hype cycle and into the past, present, future of care in rural America.

Grace is joined by Dr. Sarah E. Matt, MD, MBA, healthcare strategist, bestselling author of The Borderless Healthcare Revolution, and former Oracle executive, for a candid conversation about what is really shaping the future of healthcare in 2026 and beyond.

While headlines focus on AI everywhere and all at once, Dr. Matt argues the real transformation is a quiet rural renaissance happening in places many investors and innovators overlook. Together, they dig into where capital is actually flowing in healthcare, why geography still determines life expectancy, and why so many well-funded digital health pilots fall apart the moment they hit a rural emergency department on a busy night.

This episode explores:

• Why zip code still predicts outcomes despite decades of innovation

• The difference between digital infrastructure and human infrastructure

• What hospital boards are missing about physician burnout right now

• Why rural hospitals struggle to scale innovation and how some break the cycle

• How AI risks widening the rural care gap if leaders are not intentional

• Why workforce shortages are a design failure, not just a staffing problem

• The uncomfortable truths health system leaders are avoiding about rural care

Dr. Matt also shares insights from her work on borderless care, including the single regulatory change that could unlock real progress and why it has not happened yet.

As always, HITea With Grace closes by getting personal. Dr. Matt reflects on how she does her best work, how she navigates challenges, and what advice she has for women building careers in healthcare and health IT today. And of course, we wrap with tea, mugs, and the stories behind them.

🎧 If you care about the future of healthcare beyond urban innovation hubs, this episode is a must-listen.

Cheers!