INTEGRATED PATHWAYS FOR MANAGING RURAL HEALTH-SERVICES

Rural providers must redefine their role in the changing health care s ystem to include a more integrated approach to health cave delivery. T he rural provider must develop integrated pathways to coordinate all m edical, behavior, and social services to ensure that appropriate servi ces are available, locally or through linkages with other providers, f or the population. The integrated pathway must manage care across the continuum of services and coordinate decisions occurring at the point of service.