Connected Care, Bridging the Gap in Rural Healthcare

In this episode of Healthcare On Air, recorded live at ViVE 2026, Sanford Health CIO Brad Reimer shares how rural healthcare is driving some of the most practical and impactful innovation in the industry. Covering a vast geographic footprint, Reimer highlights how technologies like virtual care, ambient AI, and intelligent automation are bridging access gaps, extending scarce provider resources, and improving care delivery at scale. The conversation explores how AI is rapidly moving from back-office efficiency into supervised clinical applications, while also becoming a critical factor in workforce recruitment and retention. From infrastructure and connectivity to data quality and workforce development, Reimer emphasizes that the future of healthcare—rural or urban—depends on building a strong digital foundation and an AI-enabled workforce ready to meet growing demand.