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Age and Medicare Insurance are Barriers to Telemedicine Access—A Quality Improvement Project.
- Source :
-
American Surgeon . May2023, Vol. 89 Issue 5, p1643-1649. 7p. - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Background: Telehealth use has had widespread expansion and adoption over the past two years. This study aims to evaluate access to telehealth essentials (TE) using a novel metric. Methods: This single institute study surveyed outpatient surgical patients to determine their access to TE. Generalized linear mixed models were used to determine the relationship of demographic and county-level variables on access to four TE. Results: 138 patients were surveyed. Sixty-six (47.8%) were from Appalachian Kentucky. In the survey cohort, 122 (88.4%) had smart phones, 109 (80.7%) had devices with video messaging capabilities, 106 (80.9%) had cellular reception, and 112 (82.4%) had access to WiFi. Increasing age and Medicare insurance were the most consistent predictors of lack of access to TE. Conclusion: Rural Appalachian Kentucky has access to TE. Telehealth has the potential to decrease the healthcare inequity in rural populations, but incompletely address this inequity for the aging population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00031348
- Volume :
- 89
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- American Surgeon
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 164198415
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1177/00031348221074234