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Addressing health disparities in rural communities using telehealth
James P Marcin1, Ulfat Shaikh1, Robin H Steinhorn1
1Department of Pediatrics, University of California-Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, California.
Insights
Telemedicine improves pediatric subspecialty care access for rural children. This technology enhances care quality, patient satisfaction, and reduces costs, addressing healthcare disparities.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Healthcare
- Health Services Research
- Telemedicine Applications
Background:
- Regionalization of pediatric services creates access barriers for rural and underserved populations.
- Disparities in pediatric care access lead to poorer health outcomes for children.
- Limited access to pediatric subspecialty care impacts quality of care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the medical literature on telemedicine's role in improving access to pediatric subspecialty care.
- To evaluate telemedicine's effectiveness in various pediatric care settings.
- To identify the benefits of telemedicine in pediatric healthcare delivery.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of medical literature on telemedicine in pediatric subspecialty care.
- Analysis of telemedicine applications in ambulatory, acute, inpatient, and perinatal care.
- Evaluation of studies demonstrating feasibility and efficiency of telemedicine models.
Main Results:
- Telemedicine is feasible and efficient for delivering pediatric subspecialty consultations.
- Care provided via telemedicine improves adherence to evidence-based guidelines.
- Telemedicine enhances provider, patient, and family satisfaction.
- Telemedicine increases quality of care and patient safety measures.
- Telemedicine can significantly reduce overall healthcare costs.
Conclusions:
- Telemedicine models can effectively address geographic misdistribution of pediatric specialists.
- Telemedicine has the potential to mitigate disparities in pediatric care for underserved communities.
- Implementing telemedicine can improve access, quality, and efficiency in pediatric subspecialty care.
Abstract:
The regionalization of pediatric services has resulted in differential access to care, sometimes creating barriers to those living in underserved, rural communities. These disparities in access contribute to inferior healthcare outcomes among infants and children. We review the medical literature on telemedicine and its use to improve access and the quality of care provided to pediatric patients with otherwise limited access to pediatric subspecialty care. We review the use of telemedicine for the provision of pediatric subspecialty consultations in the settings of ambulatory care, acute and inpatient care, and perinatal and newborn care. Studies demonstrate the feasibility and efficiencies gained with models of care that use telemedicine. By providing pediatric subspecialty care in more convenient settings such as local primary care offices and community hospitals, pediatric patients are more likely to receive care that adheres to evidence-based guidelines. In many cases, telemedicine can significantly improve provider, patient, and family satisfaction, increase measures of quality of care and patient safety, and reduce overall costs of care. Models of care that use telemedicine have the potential to address pediatric specialists' geographic misdistribution and address disparities in the quality of care delivered to children in underserved communities.
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