Exploring the Potential and Future Outlook of AI in Improving Healthcare in Rural Communities in the United States of America

Background: Rural healthcare service delivery in the United States remains a major issue due to a lack of adequate infrastructure, qualified healthcare practitioners, and facilities. These deficiencies have reduced healthcare access and worsened rural- urban health disparities. Artificial intelligence have been shown to contribute to healthcare service delivery and its advancement globally, but its impact in service delivery for rural populations in the United State have been largely underexplored. This paper addresses this gap by investigating the impact of artificial intelligence in improving healthcare service delivery, accessibility to healthcare services, and health outcomes of individuals living in rural regions in the United States.  Methods: To retrieve relevant literature, JSTOR, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed/MEDLINE databases were searched for relevant articles based on a predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The CASP appraisal tool was used to assess the quality of the included papers. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data extracted from these articles.  Findings: The database search yielded an initial 57 articles. Following exclusion of duplicate articles and those which does not fit into the search criteria, 8 articles were determined to meet the inclusion criteria, and subsequently included and subjected to further analysis. After the included papers were critically analyzed and explored, four key themes were identified. These themes includes: (i) Patient engagement and adherence to care services (ii) Diagnostic accuracy and timeliness, (iii) Infrastructure limitations, and (iv) Closing the digital divide.  Conclusion: This extensive investigation shows that AI has the potential to improve rural US healthcare access, diagnostic precision, health outcomes, and patient participation. However, infrastructure gaps, algorithmic biases, and digital inequality currently restrict its transformative potential. Equitable data inclusion, ethical AI design, and rural infrastructural improvements are needed to overcome these systemic barriers to sustainable healthcare.