Telemedicine, COVID-19, and disparities: Policy implications

Gezzer Ortega; Jorge A Rodriguez; Lydia R Maurer; Emily E Witt; Numa Perez; Amanda Reich; David W Bates

doi:10.1016/j.hlpt.2020.08.001

Telemedicine, COVID-19, and disparities: Policy implications

Health Policy Technol. 2020 Sep;9(3):368-371. doi: 10.1016/j.hlpt.2020.08.001. Epub 2020 Aug 15.

Authors

Gezzer Ortega¹, Jorge A Rodriguez², Lydia R Maurer³, Emily E Witt⁴, Numa Perez⁵, Amanda Reich¹, David W Bates⁶

Affiliations

¹ Center for Surgery and Public Health, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
² Department of General Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Department of Surgery, Healthcare Transformation Lab, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁶ Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1620 Tremont Street, BC3-2M, Boston, MA 02120-1613, USA.

Abstract

While the rapid expansion of telemedicine in response to the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the impressive ability of health systems to adapt quickly to new complexities, it also raises important concerns about how to implement these novel modalities equitably. As the healthcare system becomes increasingly virtual, it risks widening disparities among marginalized populations who have worse health outcomes at baseline and limited access to the resources necessary for the effective use of telemedicine. In this article, we review recent policy changes and outline important recommendations that governments and health care systems can adopt to improve access to telemedicine and to tailor the use of these technologies to best meet the needs of underserved patients. We suggest that by making health equity integral to the implementation of telemedicine now, it will help to ensure that all can benefit from its use going forward and that this will be increasingly integral to care delivery.

Keywords: COVID-19; Disparities; Policy; Telemedicine; Virtual care.