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Racial and ethnic differences in telemedicine use among community-dwelling older adults with dementia.
- Source :
-
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society [J Am Geriatr Soc] 2024 Sep; Vol. 72 (9), pp. 2667-2678. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jun 05. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Background: Routine ambulatory care is essential for older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) to manage their health conditions. The federal government expanded telemedicine coverage to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ambulatory services, which may provide an opportunity to improve access to care. This study aims to examine differences in telemedicine use for ambulatory services by race, ethnicity, and community-level socioeconomic status among community-dwelling older adults with ADRD.<br />Methods: This retrospective cohort study used Medicare claims data between April 01, 2020 and December 31, 2021. We included community-dwelling Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 65 years and older with ADRD. The outcome variable is individual's use (yes/no) of telemedicine evaluation and management (tele-EM) visits in each quarter. The key independent variables are race, ethnicity, and community-level socioeconomic status.<br />Results: The analytical sample size of the study was 2,068,937, including 9.9% Black, 82.7% White, and 7.4% Hispanic individuals. In general, we observed a decreasing trend of tele-EM use, and the average rate of quarterly tele-EM use was 23.0%. Tele-EM utilization varied by individual race, ethnicity, and community-level socioeconomic status. On average, White and Black individuals in deprived communities were 3.5 and 2.4 percentage-points less likely to use tele-EM compared with their counterparts in less-deprived communities (p < 0.001). However, Hispanic individuals in deprived communities were 2.4 percentage-points more likely to utilize tele-EM compared with those in less-deprived communities (p < 0.001). Additionally, we observed various racial and ethnic differences in telemedicine use in deprived communities versus less-deprived communities.<br />Conclusions: We observed various racial and ethnic differences in telemedicine use, both within and between communities by socioeconomic status. Telemedicine is a viable healthcare delivery option that may influence healthcare access for racial and ethnic minorities and for individuals in socioeconomically deprived communities. Further policies or interventions may be needed to ensure all individuals have equal access to newly available care delivery models.<br /> (© 2024 The American Geriatrics Society.)
- Subjects :
- Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Female
Humans
Male
Ambulatory Care statistics & numerical data
COVID-19 epidemiology
Ethnicity statistics & numerical data
Health Services Accessibility statistics & numerical data
Healthcare Disparities ethnology
Healthcare Disparities statistics & numerical data
Retrospective Studies
United States
Racial Groups statistics & numerical data
Dementia ethnology
Dementia therapy
Medicare statistics & numerical data
Telemedicine statistics & numerical data
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1532-5415
- Volume :
- 72
- Issue :
- 9
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 38838690
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.19039