Describing Perspectives of Telehealth and the Impact on Equity in Access to Health Care from Community and Provider Perspectives: A Multimethod Analysis

Jul 6, 2023Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association

How Telehealth Affects Fair Access to Health Care: Views from Communities and Providers

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Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

A total of 112 health care providers and 23 community members provided insights on telehealth's impact on access to care.

Telehealth was perceived to help maintain access to healthcare during the pandemic by addressing barriers such as provider shortages and transportation concerns.
Participants reported that telehealth could improve care quality and coordination through more convenient communication between providers and patients.
Barriers limiting equitable access to telehealth included restrictive policies on services and issues with technology and broadband availability.
Recommendations highlighted the need for policy changes and innovations in care delivery to enhance equitable access to telehealth services.

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Introduction: Methods: Results: Conclusion: The rapid adoption of telehealth as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic provided the opportunity to examine perceptions of health care access and use of telehealth for delivery of effective and equitable care in low-income and historically marginalized communities. Focusing on communities with high social vulnerability, a multimethod analysis of combined perspectives, collected February through August 2022 from 112 health care providers, obtained from surveys and interviews, and 23 community members via 3 focus groups on access to care and telehealth. Qualitative data were analyzed using the Health Equity and Implementation Framework to identify barriers, facilitators, and recommendations for the implementation of telehealth using a health equity lens. Participants perceived that telehealth helped maintain access to health care during the pandemic by addressing barriers including provider shortages, transportation concerns, and scheduling conflicts. Additional benefits suggested were improved care quality and coordination attributed to convenient avenues for care delivery and communication among providers and patients. However, many barriers to telehealth were reported and considered to limit equitable access to care. These included restrictive or changing policies regarding allowable services provided via telehealth, and availability of technology and broadband services to enable telehealth visits. Recommendations provided insight into care delivery innovation opportunities and potential policy changes to address equitable access to care. Integration of telehealth into models of care delivery could improve access to health care services and promote communication among providers and patients to improve care quality. Our findings have implications that are critical for future policy reforms and telehealth research.

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Describing Perspectives of Telehealth and the Impact on Equity in Access to Health Care from Community and Provider Perspectives: A Multimethod Analysis

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