Why digital equality matters for better telemedicine
Telehealth is for everyone, and hospitals and health systems must develop a digital equity strategy to better serve patients in the digital and telehealth space to ensure everyone can use telehealth, argued Alexandra Hunter, virtual care consultant at Henry Ford Health in Detroit.
Technology and the Internet space have increased rapidly over the past thirty years. As this field has expanded, so has healthcare in the way it delivers its services to its patients, especially telehealth. Telehealth holds promise for healthcare to more easily deliver care where, when and how patients need it.
However, it has shined a bright light on the contrast between patient populations with and without adequate access and digital health literacy to deliver this type of medical care. Digital equality is defined as the idea that everyone should have the information technology capacity necessary for full participation in society, democracy and the economy.
Hunter will address this topic during the HIMSS 24 Global Conference and Exhibition in an educational session titled “Addressing Digital and Telehealth Equity Gaps through Strategy.”
How to build a digital stock strategy
“Not every organization is equipped to support their patients in accessing telehealth,” Hunter said. “During my session, participants will learn how to develop a digital equity strategy to better serve their patients. There is a strong connection between the populations that experience barriers to broadband access and are digitally illiterate, and those who have a higher prevalence and premature death from chronic health problems.
“This session will explore how Henry Ford Health and other health care systems have addressed gaps and helped overcome barriers,” she added.
Equity is important to healthcare IT leaders at hospitals and health care systems because telehealth is not going away, she said.
“Most organizations were building the aircraft as they flew it at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis because they didn’t have a telehealth department, while others were simply trying to get providers to adopt it,” she noted . “Now that the dust has settled and telehealth is part of the daily activities of many healthcare providers, it is important to identify the gaps and barriers that prevent patients from accessing and using telehealth for their healthcare.
“Many people assume that telehealth will take the place of in-person visits, even though it is happening in addition,” she continued. “Patients who require frequent visits to their healthcare providers, such as those with chronic illnesses or older adults, can benefit from using telehealth to adhere to their care plan and potentially achieve better health outcomes.”
Broadband and Wi-Fi
To achieve this, a health care system must look at its patient population and assess their access to broadband and Wi-Fi, she added.
“Ask questions like: who has devices? What are the digital skills of our patients? How do we increase the digital skills of our patients? What technical support do we currently provide to patients?” Hunter asked. “The future continues to evolve towards a digital world and the telehealth landscape is not the realm of dreams. Just because we build it doesn’t mean they will come.
“Healthcare IT leaders at hospitals and health systems need to understand why, and they need to understand that investing in addressing the gaps and barriers of digital and telehealth equity is an investment in the health outcomes of their patients and their communities ” she added.
Hunter wants session participants to go away with a good understanding of what digital equality is and why it is important.
“Digital equity is the idea that everyone should have the information technology capacity they need full participation in our society, democracy and economy‘ she stated. “The National Center for Education Statistics found this 16% of American adults are not digitally literate, and of that percentage, these individuals are less educated, 65 years or older, and black and brown individuals. These traits are typically found in people who don’t have access to Wi-Fi or devices, need technical support, and could benefit from digital literacy training.
“Additionally, we know that patient-centric health-related apps, such as MyChart, are difficult to use for people with low digital skills” she added.
Why should a health care system provide care?
It is vital for healthcare and healthcare IT because in order to address digital inequality within a patient population, one must understand what it is and why a healthcare system should care, she said.
“Without this risk, any initiative or leadership is at risk of failure because you haven’t taken the time to understand it,” she explained. “Additionally, to assess telehealth/digital equity within your healthcare system, you need to understand how to apply any findings to your strategic goals.
“That brings me to my next point: what are the strategic objectives of the organization in terms of addressing telehealth and digital equity? Do they have them? If not, why not? What is the landscape of your executive leaders’ understanding of digital/telehealth equity? Do you have executive leadership that supports addressing telehealth/digital inequality?” she asked.
Before Henry Ford Health began developing its digital equity strategy, there was no process in place to provide technical support to both patients and staff. Henry Ford Health had no way to identify patients who needed help; and for the patients who self-identified as needing help, the organization had nothing to offer assistance.
“Internally, our providers and front desk staff were not equipped to answer the technical support questions presented to them,” Hunter noted. “Our community health and social workers were unaware of the resources available for patients to overcome their digital barriers. In certain scenarios, patients were not offered and were not eligible for telemedicine visits due to providers’ lack of knowledge of existing resources. to support patients in connecting.
“These offerings have ranged from chat functionality that helps the hearing impaired, to the integration of interpretation services into video visits for those who do not speak/understand English well enough to participate in a medical visit, to proactive outreach support for those at higher risk to problems,” she continued.
A cautionary tale
This is a real-world example of the ways Henry Ford Health failed to equitably serve its patient population. These lessons can serve as a cautionary tale for other healthcare systems and IT leaders to assess and address their digital equity strategy to ensure telehealth is for all, Hunter said.
Also during the session, Hunter will highlight simple, actionable areas to create a digital equity strategy and assess current offerings within a healthcare system.
“Consider populations and their access to telehealth visits that fall into the following categories: older adults, low socioeconomic status, limited health literacy, limited English proficiency, and racial/ethnic minorities,” she noted. “Assess your telehealth education offerings for your patients.
“What do your current tip sheets look like? Are they translated into multiple languages? Does your healthcare system offer training or classes on increasing patients’ digital skills and comfort with telehealth?” she continued. “Organizations can think about how to make their frontline staff aware of the resources that exist to meet their patients’ digital needs so they can inform them.”
Better equipped to perform telemedicine
Investing in creating a digital equity strategy and assessing current offerings can help providers and support staff be better equipped to conduct telemedicine visits and support patient connectivity, she added.
“Henry Ford Health has created technical support roles for patients as a result of our own review,” she said. “Creating technical support roles for patients has resulted in an increase in positive patient experiences through contact with these designated agents to resolve technical issues.
“Additionally, Henry Ford Health has sought partnerships beyond our immediate virtual care team to achieve our goals,” she continued. “These partnerships have allowed us to receive external funding to implement digital literacy programs aimed at building the skills of older adults and subsequently increasing their use of telehealth and telemedicine.”
All of these items and more have positioned the Henry Ford Health team to make impactful progress in digital equity and to remain subject matter experts and thought leaders in digital equity strategies within and beyond the healthcare system, Hunter said.
“Finally, there is a direct correlation between Henry Ford Health’s digital equity strategy and Press Ganey’s likelihood to recommend telemedicine scores,” she noted. “Our top score for likelihood of recommendation was 75.06% in Q2 2020 and we were able to increase it to 76.98% for Q2 2023. Our team reads patient comments from these studies every month.
“These comments inform us of the opportunities we have to better support and confirm that our strategy is aligned with patient needs,” she added.
Hunter’s session, “Addressing the Digital and Telehealth Equity Gaps through Strategy,” will be held at the HIMSS24 Global Conference and Exhibition on March 12 from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM in room W206A.
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