First Do No Harm: The Impact of Telemedicine on Health Disparities

Two driving factors in the advancement of medical care today focus on the rapid adoption of technologies into patient care and the social determinants of health (SDOH) to improve patient outcomes. The increas-ing use of artificial intelligence (AI), network technologies, mobile devices, and embedded sensors (among many others) to develop and deliver patient care is driving the revolution forward in one area. Another area focuses on nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes, known as SDOH. These SDOHs contribute to wide health disparities and inequities. One of the primary aims of introducing technology to clinical practice has been to narrow health disparities by expanding healthcare access through telemedicine.

One lasting impact of COVID-19 compelling healthcare providers to adopt telemedicine is that remote patient care has become normalized as a channel for patient evaluation and treatment. Even as the virus moves from pandemic to endemic status, telemedicine is viewed as a way to see patients more cost-effectively and reach patients who might have had difficulty accessing healthcare in the past. Specifically, among patients in need of chronic care, telemedicine can significantly reduce the number of outpatient visits. In addition, the increase in preventative procedures for patients with chronic diseases after telemedicine suggests that this population benefits from telemedicine through improved disease management, preventative and follow-up care, and avoid-ance of costly emergency department or inpatient services.

Want to read more? Head here: https://doi.org/10.30953/thmt.v9.493

Elizabeth White Baker, PhD. | Associate Professor of Information Systems, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA