Promoting Equitable Access to Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Crisis

Even before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic prompted a sweeping shift toward telemedicine instead of in-person care, technological innovations were not reaching all patient populations evenly, creating a “digital divide” between those with access and those without. Understanding these disparities and ensuring more equitable use of telemedicine has become even more imperative during the pandemic.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we’re talking with 2 coauthors of an Original Research article published in our January Health IT special issue. The study, “Differences in the Use of Telephone and Video Telemedicine Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” describes patterns of telemedicine visits by patients’ race, ethnicity, age, and language amid the pandemic in Spring 2020.

The authors joining us are Dr Jorge A. Rodriguez and Dr Ishani Ganguli, of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

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Read more:

Differences in the Use of Telephone and Video Telemedicine Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Barriers to Accessing Online Medical Records in the United States

Addressing Evolving Patient Concerns Around Telehealth in the COVID-19 Era

Patient Experience After Modifying Visit Delivery During the COVID-19 Pandemic