The South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations (SDAHO) is excited to highlight Avel eCare, in this month’s Associate Member Spotlight article.
For more than 30 years, Avel eCare has partnered with hospitals, clinicians, and health care organizations to strengthen access to high quality care across rural and underserved communities. That mission closely aligns with the work of the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations (SDAHO), creating a longstanding partnership rooted in shared purpose: ensuring communities can continue to access reliable, sustainable health care close to home.
As health care organizations navigate staffing shortages, financial pressures, growing patient complexity, and continued uncertainty across the industry, Avel eCare remains focused on supporting hospitals not only through virtual clinical services, but through education, innovation, and long-term collaboration.
Today, Avel operates as a fully integrated Virtual Health System, supporting care across emergency medicine, intensive care, behavioral health, hospitalist services, EMS, pharmacy, senior care, school health, and crisis response. Rather than functioning as a standalone telehealth vendor, Avel embeds experienced physicians, nurses, and clinicians directly into hospital workflows to extend local teams, strengthen care delivery, and improve access while preserving community-based health care.
“We partner. We do not replace,” is a philosophy that continues to guide Avel’s approach to rural health care delivery.
That collaborative model has become increasingly important as rural hospitals look for ways to stabilize operations while continuing to meet growing patient needs. Avel’s clinical teams help hospitals improve quality metrics, reduce clinician burnout, strengthen staffing support, and create more sustainable models of care delivery.
“We really look at where people need help with staffing and expertise and bring that medical care to the patient when and where they need it,” said Dr. Kelly Rhone, Chief Medical Officer at Avel eCare. “Health care should not depend on your ZIP code.”
Beyond virtual clinical services, Avel continues investing heavily in education and hands on collaboration with rural providers. One recent example is Avel’s National Emergency Airway Training Program, powered by The Difficult Airway Course™, which brings emergency clinicians from across the country to Sioux Falls for immersive training focused on advanced airway management and emergency response.
The course reflects Avel’s broader philosophy that telemedicine should strengthen local care teams, not simply provide remote coverage. Participants train alongside experienced emergency physicians while learning how virtual collaboration can support critical procedures in real time during emergencies.
“We don’t want technology to get in the way,” said Mandy Bell, Vice President of Product Innovation at Avel eCare. “Our goal is to let technology fade into the background so clinicians can focus on caring for patients.”
Avel’s innovative efforts are also closely tied to broader conversations happening nationally around the future of rural health care. As states and health care organizations prepare for significant transformation initiatives and long-term rural health planning efforts, Avel continues to advocate for virtual care as foundational health care infrastructure rather than a supplemental service.
That work includes collaboration with hospitals, state leaders, EMS agencies, and health care organizations focused on sustainability, workforce stabilization, access to specialty care, and operational efficiency.
The partnership between SDAHO and Avel eCare reflects that same commitment to practical, scalable solutions for rural communities. Both organizations continue working to support hospitals not only through today’s challenges, but through the long-term transformation of health care delivery itself.
As telemedicine continues to evolve, Avel remains focused on what has defined the organization for more than three decades: partnership, innovation, reliability, and a deep understanding of rural health care.
Whether through clinical services, workforce support, advanced education, EMS innovation, or broader transformation efforts, Avel eCare remains committed to helping hospitals and communities strengthen access to care today and into the future.
About Avel eCare
Avel eCare is the nation’s leading virtual health system, delivering a comprehensive suite of telemedicine services that span the entire patient care continuum. Partnering with hospitals, health systems, and organizations across the country, Avel eCare combines clinical expertise with purpose‑built technology to expand access, improve quality, and support sustainable health care delivery. For more information, visit Avel eCare’s website at avelecare.com or contact info@avelecare.com.
