On digital health and the Rural Health Transformation Program, with Marcel Botha
As reported in January this year, the United States Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out $10 billion in rural health funding to states in what was the first distribution of federal monies “meant to keep rural hospitals afloat amid the Trump administration’s cuts to healthcare funding.”
The Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program was authorised by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Section 71401 of Public Law 119-21), as the CMS website states, and aims to “strengthen rural communities across America by improving healthcare access, quality, and outcomes by transforming the healthcare delivery ecosystem.” That improvement is to include for the strategic goals of making America healthy again (MAHA), sustainable access, workforce development, innovative care, and tech innovation.
Over five fiscal years, $10 billion of funding is to be made available each of those fiscal years, ending in 2030. States must use the RHT Program funds for “three or more […] approved uses of funds”, including but not limited to technology-dependent developments:
- Promoting consumer-facing, technology-driven solutions for the prevention and management of chronic diseases.
- Providing training and technical assistance for the development and adoption of technology-enabled solutions that improve care delivery in rural hospitals, including remote monitoring, robotics, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technologies.
- Providing technical assistance, software, and hardware for significant information technology advances designed to improve efficiency, enhance cybersecurity capability development, and improve patient health outcomes.
Indeed, a scoping review published in The Permanente Journal in 2024 noted the benefits of digital health tools when it comes to improving outcomes in rural areas. Such tools include teleconsultations, remote monitoring, mobile health applications, and wearable devices, among others. However, access to and education on these needs improvement yet.
To find out more, pharmaphorum spoke with Marcel Botha, founder and CEO of 10XBeta, a Brooklyn-based venture studio, who is a vocal advocate for resilient supply chains, decentralised manufacturing, and equitable access to health technology.
Q. What are your thoughts on the CMS rolling out this first round of Rural Health Transformation fund disbursements to strengthen access, workforce capacity, and care delivery in underserved areas?
Marcel Botha: The CMS Rural Health Transformation fund is an important signal that policymakers recognise rural healthcare can’t be solved with incremental tweaks. These investments have the potential to strengthen access and workforce capacity, but only if they’re paired with delivery models that are designed for rural realities. Capital alone isn’t enough; the real test will be whether funding enables care to move closer to patients, reduces the operational burden on providers, and supports financially sustainable models long after the grant period ends.
Q. Can you comment on the benefits of ameliorating digital health capabilities in rural areas?
Digital health is often framed as a convenience, but in rural settings, it’s foundational infrastructure. The right digital tools can extend scarce clinical expertise, reduce unnecessary patient travel, and enable providers to practice at the top of their license. When implemented well, digital health doesn’t replace in-person care – it makes in-person care more effective by improving coordination, continuity, and decision-making across distance and time.
Q. Can you speak to the policy and funding landscape affecting rural providers currently?
Rural providers operate in a landscape characterised by thin margins, workforce shortages, and reimbursement models not designed for low-density care delivery. While recent policy efforts and funding streams are directionally positive, they remain fragmented. What’s needed is alignment: reimbursement that rewards outcomes and access, funding mechanisms that support experimentation, and regulatory flexibility that allows providers to adopt new models without excessive administrative friction.
Q. How can innovation and mobile care models help these investments translate into real access improvements on the ground?
Innovation matters most when it shows up where patients actually are. Mobile care models – whether clinics, diagnostics, or home-based services – can turn policy investments into tangible access by overcoming geographic barriers, rather than fighting them. When combined with digital infrastructure and data-driven care pathways, these models allow systems to reach underserved populations faster, more efficiently, and with greater resilience than traditional brick-and-mortar approaches alone.
If rural healthcare investment is to succeed, it must be grounded in execution and community trust, not just aspiration. The opportunity right now is to pair policy momentum with pragmatic innovation: tools, technologies, and care models that work in the real world.
When funding, regulation, and design are aligned around patient access, rural healthcare can move from chronic vulnerability to durable strength.
About the interviewee
Marcel Botha is a product development leader with 20 years of experience across medical and consumer devices, sustainable industrial systems, automotive, and construction technologies. He specialises in building agile, high-performing innovation teams to drive new product development and commercialisation. As CEO of 10XBeta, he has led collaborations with governments, corporations, start-ups, and investors. Botha has also founded and invested in multiple companies spanning diagnostics, drug delivery, mobility, sensing, and consumer applications. His most recent focus has been on building 10Xbeta's venture studio to lead health tech innovation in New York.
