Racial and ethnic disparities in telemedicine usage persist during
pandemic
Study finds minorities dealing with access to care issues
Date:
April 14, 2022
Source:
University of Houston
Summary:
A new study finds racial and ethnic disparities in the use of
telemedicine and access to care persist during the COVID-19
pandemic.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Historical data shows minorities have long faced obstacles to getting
the critical health care services they need. When COVID-19 arrived two
years ago, telemedicine emerged with the promise of better access to
care through virtual delivery of clinical services and consultations.
==========================================================================
But according to a new study led by the University of Houston College
of Medicine and published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine,
the rapid implementation of telemedicine didn't bridge the gap as much
as people had hoped.
"We found that racial and ethnic disparities persisted," said lead
study author Omolola Adepoju, a clinical associate professor at the UH
College of Medicine and director of research at the Humana Integrated
Health Sciences Institute at UH. "This suggests that the promise of the positive impact of telemedicine on health care use and health outcomes
could elude underserved populations." Adepoju partnered with Lone Star
Circle of Care, a federally qualified health center (FQHC) that caters
to indigent, uninsured and underinsured, mostly minority populations, to examine what was driving those disparities. The research team examined electronic medical records from 55 individual clinics in 6 different
counties in Texas.
"Our main finding was African Americans were 35% less likely to use telemedicine compared to whites," Adepoju said. "And Hispanics were
51% less likely to use it." The reason, the study found, was a huge
digital divide.
==========================================================================
"The people who really need to access their primary care providers might
be cut out [of telemedicine] because they don't have the technology or
might not know how to use it," Adepoju said.
According to Adepoju, only one in four families earning $30,000 or less
have smart devices, such as a phone, tablet, or laptop, compared to
nearly three in four families earning $100,000 or more. And only 66% of
African American and 61% of Hispanic households have access to broadband internet compared to 79% of white households.
The study also found that individuals younger than 18 years and older
adults were less likely to have a telemedicine visit when compared
to non-elderly adults, as were those covered under Medicaid coverage,
or uninsured.
Another factor that played a role was how far from someone lived from
a clinic.
"We observed a dose-response to geographic distance so that the further
a patient lived, the higher the likelihood of telemedicine use,"
Adepoju said.
"The type of visit, whether for an acute or non-acute condition, was also associated with telemedicine use. Non-acute visits were more likely to
be conducted via telemedicine." Despite the recent easing of COVID-19 restrictions and people returning to more in-person care, telemedicine
is here to stay. The hope, according to Adepoju, is that minorities will
be better educated and equipped to take advantage of it.
But they'll need someone who can walk them through it to ensure their appointments are meaningful.
"Clinics will need a technology support system," she said. "A staff that conducts pre-visit device and connectivity testing with patients can be instrumental to helping patients maximize telemedicine as an access to
care option.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Houston. Original
written by Bryan Luhn.
Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Omolola E. Adepoju, Minji Chae, Chinedum O. Ojinnaka, Sharonya
Shetty,
Tracy Angelocci. Utilization Gaps During the COVID-19 Pandemic:
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Telemedicine Uptake in Federally
Qualified Health Center Clinics. Journal of General Internal
Medicine, 2022; 37 (5): 1191 DOI: 10.1007/s11606-021-07304-4 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220414125143.htm
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