Older Adults, Minorities, and People With Lower Incomes Face Inequities in Telemedicine Use

A study published in JAMA Network Open indicates significant inequities in the use of telemedicine, especially by age, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and when someone needed to use a non-English language, reports News-Medical . The researchers analyzed data for nearly 150,000 patients of a large, academic medical system. All had been previously scheduled to have a primary care or ambulatory specialty appointment between March 16 and May 11, which coincided with the first COVID-19 surge in the health system's region, and was also during stay-at-home orders in the area. The data indicated that 54 percent conducted their visits via telemedicine, while 46 percent of that population had visits conducted via video. Generally, patients older than 55 were 25 percent less likely than the average patient to participate in a telemedicine visit, with people older than 75 being 33 percent less likely. People identifying as Asian were 31 percent less likely to conduct a telemedicine visit, and non-English speakers were 16 percent less likely; using Medicaid for insurance also made patients less likely to successfully conduct a telemedicine visit by 7 percent. Meanwhile, those over 55 were at least 32 percent less likely to conduct a video visit, and those over 75 were 51 percent less likely. The researchers concluded that there has to be equal consideration for all types of telemedicine moving forward.