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Health Tech Solution Aimed at Identifying Clinicians Inclined to Work in Rural Communities

PR Newswire

Fri, February 20, 2026 at 2:36 AM GMT+9 2 min read

_Axuall Explore creates feature to fill some of the most difficult positions in healthcare. _

CLEVELAND, Feb. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ – Axuall, the industry leader in clinical workforce intelligence, announced a new feature to identify physicians and advanced practice providers who are more willing to work in rural communities. Using Axuall Explore, an AI-powered database of 1.5 million clinicians, health systems can now identify information to help recruit for some of their most difficult-to-fill positions. Analyzing clinician data from over 19,000 primary sources and more than 30 billion claims data points, Axuall Explore quickly identifies clinicians who have a propensity to work in rural areas.

Built with leading healthcare systems, Axuall is a workforce intelligence company powered by a national real-time practitioner data network. The technology enables healthcare systems, staffing firms, telehealth, and health plans to dramatically reduce onboarding and enrollment time while providing robust data insights for network planning, analytics, and reporting. (PRNewsfoto/Axuall)

Jason Junker, MA, CPRP, Corporate Director of Physician Recruitment, Multi-State Division at Advent Health, said this type of information will be invaluable in recruiting efforts. “With several markets recruiting physicians to serve rural communities, a tool like Axuall Explore is truly transformative. It helps us identify providers who are not only clinically strong but genuinely committed to rural practice—an audience that can be difficult to pinpoint. By connecting with these physicians through messaging that reflects our faith-based mission, we’re able to engage those whose calling aligns with our communities’ needs and ultimately strengthen the care we provide to our patients.”

The launch comes at an ideal time, as access to healthcare in rural communities has been a national focus. Currently:

More than 91% of U.S. rural counties face healthcare workforce shortages.

More than 16% of the U.S. population lives within a designated health professional shortage area.

Nearly 9,000 additional clinicians are needed to fill these gaps in care.

With just a few clicks through Axuall Explore, a physician recruiter can find more than 100,000 physicians and nearly 44,000 nurse practitioners who have practiced in a rural setting for at least three months.

“This level of precision leads directly to more efficient recruitment, superior workforce planning, and ultimately, the improved retention needed to stabilize care in these vital communities,” said Charlie Lougheed, the Co-founder and CEO of Axuall. “Solving the chronic staffing shortages in rural America is not just a challenge; it is a deepening crisis driven by funding cuts and the utter failure of conventional, broad-stroke recruitment strategies.”

The timing of this solution is even more crucial, considering the current rural healthcare workforce is nearing retirement age; the average age of physicians who work in a rural setting is 59 years old.

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About Axuall

Built with leading healthcare systems, Axuall is a workforce intelligence company powered by a national, near real-time practitioner data network. The technology enables healthcare systems, staffing firms, telehealth, and health plans to dramatically reduce onboarding and enrollment time while also providing unique, powerful data insights for network planning, analytics, and reporting. To learn more, visit www.axuall.com.

**Contact:

**Jeff Rusack
KNB Communications
Axuall@KNBcomm.com

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