We’re excited to share the topic and questions for this week’s #HITsm chat happening Friday, 10/22 at Noon ET (9 AM PT). This week’s chat will be hosted by Sarah Bennight (@sarahbennight) from @StericycleComms on the topic “Digital Health Tools Accessibility and Access.”
There’s no doubt the pandemic has accelerated digital innovation and adoption. With stay-at-home orders in place consumers quickly learned to order groceries and other supplies online, grab curbside meals, and even have prescriptions delivered instead of stepping inside a store. On the healthcare side, patients and doctors were forced to innovate patient-doctor interactions via telehealth and other communication channels, and learn how to monitor patients without an in-person visit. Telehealth and remote patient monitoring exploded along with at-home fitness, health, and mental health resources.
But sadly, the data is showing that this digital acceleration has unintentionally left some patients behind. According to the FCC, 97% of Americans in urban areas have access to a high speed internet service. In rural areas it’s closer to 65% and 60% in tribal lands. That’s 30 million Americans! Imagine attending a telehealth visit without broadband access, when you have no privacy to talk to your provider, or when you don’t speak English. This article highlights a facility that sent out appointment reminders to the predominantly Chinese-speaking community for phone visits. But the patients didn’t understand that the visit wasn’t in-person and cancelled the visit out of fear of contracting COVID. Most telehealth platforms are designed in the English language. And even if the patient can get to a provider who speaks their language, they can’t get past the first screen to even start the visit.
Imagine not having access to the mental health resources you have used during the pandemic, or the check-ins with your doctor. But beyond that, data shows that even access to free resources during the pandemic were not used by the groups who could benefit from them due to challenges in searching and applying, as well as transportation and other access challenges. It seems that the willingness to create equitable health interactions is there, but what are we missing?
As a healthcare IT community, we can’t deny the benefits of digital health technology adoption and innovation in improving health outcomes. Whether through online fitness subscription services, mental health apps, on-demand doctors/counselors, patient-collected data on vitals and other health apps, many patients have increased their amount of self-health data and information, thus improving their health literacy. How do we take this technology and reach at-risk-populations while continuing to advance healthcare as a whole?
Articles to explore:
- https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210921/COVID-19-and-the-widening-online-information-gap.aspx
- https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/covid-digital-divide-learning-education/
- https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/health-equity/covid-19-faqs-health-equity-pandemic
- https://www.theverge.com/21277936/telehealth-english-systems-disparities-interpreters-online-doctor-appointments
- https://access.stericyclecommunications.com/blog/multilingual-support
Join us for this week’s #HITsm chat where we’ll discuss the following questions and topics.
Topics for this week’s #HITsm Chat:
T1: What equity considerations are there with the digital health/telehealth revolution? #HITsm
T2: What are some of the greatest challenges and barriers you have seen or experienced in providing equity in digital health tools and technology? #HITsm
T3: What are the pressing needs of marginalized and hard to reach populations including low-income, rural, immigrant, and non-English speaking communities? #HITsm
T4: How can the Health IT community better understand these needs, and incorporate them so that we can accelerate healthcare through technology while improving access in all populations? Who is doing this well today? #HITsm
T5: What are some NON healthcare IT apps or digital solutions you have seen that reach underserved populations? What could healthcare learn from these solutions? #HITsm
Bonus: Is the commercial world further ahead with digital equity than healthcare? Why or why not? #HITsm
Upcoming #HITsm Chat Schedule
10/29 – TBD
Hosted by Julie Maas (@JulieWMaas) from @EMRDirect
11/5 – Full Cycle, Purchased Healthcare Interoperability
Hosted by Shane McNamee MD (@shanemcnamee_md) from @bpmplushealth and Dalton Ruer (@QlikDork)
11/12 -Building a Health IT Startup in a Highly Competitive Marketplace
Hosted by Kelly Benning (@KellyBChurch)
11/19 – Parking Lot Healthcare: Is It Here to Stay?
Hosted by Dessiree Paoli (@dessiree_paoli) from @InterlaceHealth
11/26 – Thanksgiving – No Chat
12/3 – TBD
Hosted by TBD
12/10 – TBD
Hosted by TBD
12/17 – TBD
Hosted by Maram Museitif (@MaramMPH)
We look forward to learning from the #HITsm community! As always, let us know if you’d like to host a future #HITsm chat or if you know someone you think we should invite to host.
If you’re searching for the latest #HITsm chat, you can always find the latest #HITsm chat and schedule of chats here.
