Telehealth

Telemedicine is a way for health care providers to deliver clinical health care to patients remotely through a computer or telephone, without an in-person office visit. The demonstrated benefits of telemedicine include improved access to care, convenience, and slowing the spread of infection. During the COVID-19 pandemic, legislation expanded coverage for telemedicine healthcare services. Key findings from this research include the following: 

Older adults and people with disabilities cannot equitably access the same health information and care as people without disabilities when hospital websites are not accessible. The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) found the following key insights relating to digital accessibility and its importance to older Americans:

• Hospitals and health care systems in the U.S. need continuing education on the role of web accessibility in American Disability Act (ADA) compliance given the significance of newly issued federal guidance.

As society works to address the systemic barriers that contribute to the maternal health crisis, it is important to recognize the role that telehealth could play in improving the United States’ maternal health outcomes. Policymakers should take the following into consideration: 

As high-speed internet becomes increasingly important as a resource for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention and management services, gaps in digital infrastructure may have a detrimental impact on health outcomes. Using national census and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data from 2018, researchers evaluated state-level rates of household internet access and age-adjusted cardiac mortality.

The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded a $4.5 million Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Recovery Assistance grant to the Port of Lewiston, Lewiston, Idaho, to expand internet connectivity for commerce, public health and safety and learning in North Central Idaho. This project will support the construction of a 95-mile segment of fiberoptic cable running from Moscow to Grangeville. This EDA grant will be matched with $1.1 million in local funds and is expected to create 120 jobs, according to grantee estimates. 

Healthcare is facing a new frontier, as the industry has seen a boom in digital health tools and technologies on both the patient and provider side. An explosion of health dat has also been driving increasingly sophisticated predictive and prescriptive insights into individuals and populations. Unfortunately, this frontier has proven to be hostile to marginalized communities. There is a growing digital divide, where healthcare technology has actually posed challenges, instead of benefits.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration awarded an $18.9 million Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) grant to the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada (ITCN). This grant will fund high-speed internet infrastructure deployment, use, and adoption projects to improve connectivity across Tribal lands.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded $143,639,693.50 in funds from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 to Tribes in California and Washington.The awards provide funds for high-speed internet infrastructure deployment projects through the Internet for All Initiative’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program for the Hoopa Valley Tribal Council and Yurok Telecommunications in California and the Spokane Tribe of Indians in Washington.

Telemedicine’s ultimate success will depend in large part on technology—how seamless patients will find the process, and the digital divide that now keeps many physicians from offering telehealth services and patients from accessing them.

For patients to participate in telehealth encounters, they have to use a number of proprietary, health system-specific portals and platforms. That can be challenging for many older adults and minority groups. Effective virtual care depends on digital fluency, meaning they need to be able to engage in all aspects of digital technologies, from accessing the internet to navigating telehealth applications and performing basic troubleshooting.