Community-Level Internet Connectivity and Utilization of Maternal Telehealth

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Digital Health

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated telehealth adoption, offering a way to reduce maternal healthcare disparities.
• Stable internet is crucial for telehealth, but lack of connectivity presents a significant barrier to maternal telehealth access.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between community internet penetration and maternal telehealth service utilization.
• To assess how this association varies across different levels of maternal telehealth use.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study using 2019 US data from commercially insured maternal health patients.
• Individual telehealth utilization data aggregated to the geo-zip level (n=404).

Main Results:

• A statistically significant positive association was found between household internet connectivity and maternal telehealth utilization at the 10th and 25th quantiles.
• Higher community internet connectivity correlated with increased maternal telehealth use, especially among lower-utilization groups.

Conclusions:

• Community internet connectivity positively correlates with maternal telehealth utilization.
• The magnitude of this association differs across the maternal telehealth utilization spectrum.
• Policymakers must consider digital access when developing telehealth policies for maternal care.