As telehealth surges, rural areas being left behind
Lack of adoption is driven by a range of issues, including how telehealth visits are covered by insurance, privacy concerns and internet capabilities.
A national nonprofit dedicated to improving connectivity for families, communities, and businesses has announced new resources in the area of telehealth. Connected Nation (CN) is seeking to provide answers to individuals and groups that might be relying more on telehealth options, especially during a time of surging COVID-19 cases.
CN provides free information on a range of issues, including how telehealth visits are covered by insurance carriers, patient privacy concerns, record keeping, and internet capabilities. The organization has worked for years to address connectivity shortcomings across the nation. The resources being announced draw on information gathered last spring as part of a CN Michigan study that examined telehealth in that state over a six-month period.
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“We released the study in late February 2020 just days before the first pandemic closures. In it, we identified some of the barriers to accessing the technology needed for telehealth and the concerns some patients raised about using the technology,” said Eric Frederick, Executive Director, CN Michigan. “As you can imagine, in the months that followed there was a massive surge in telehealth use to both limit exposure to COVID-19 and to help healthcare systems handle an influx of patients. During this time, we’ve continued to work on developing new resources to address the concerns raised about leveraging telehealth.”
The CN resources include videos, podcasts and other information that can be downloaded by individuals, groups, or companies.
The Michigan study: Telehealth challenges in rural counties
In its study of telehealth in Michigan, CN first looked at telehealth policies across the country, and compared Michigan’s policies to those benchmarks. It also surveyed resident in five rural counties, to assess how people used telehealth and what problems and benefits they found with the current system. In addition, the study included information from providers, health systems, and IT experts.
“Researchers found, among other things, the highest ratios in the country of patients per doctor, a lower-than-average life expectancy, and a higher-than-average number of preventable hospital stays in rural states with restrictive telehealth policies,” the study said.
In Michigan, the lack of access to high-speed internet is a quality-of-life issue, the study said, with lack of telehealth services creating a barrier to care for some. In addition to challenges for patients and health care consumers, the study found that providers and health care facilities often lack resources to provide telehealth services for those in rural Michigan. Support for telehealth services varies in different areas, and issues such as privacy concerns can also be a factor.
“Many older adults in Michigan, especially those who live in rural areas, do not have access to high-speed internet, and that’s a quality-of-life issue for them,” said Paula D. Cunningham, State Director of AARP Michigan. “That means they can’t take advantage of advances in telemedicine that at the very least could save them long trips to the doctor, and at the most could be lifesaving.”
National implications of the study
The researchers said they hoped to use the information from the study to build a better understanding of how telehealth functions nationwide, and what challenges exist at a time when demand for such services has never been higher.
The findings of the Michigan study include several points that could have national implications. These include:
- In the five Michigan counties surveyed, telehealth usage represents a savings of nearly $4.7 million per year, just for simple 15-minute visits to general practitioners.
- With studies showing that the average doctor’s visit requires approximately two hours between travel, waiting rooms, and the visits themselves, this represents nearly $1 million ($985,000) in lost productivity per year in these five counties, totaling a savings of $5.7 million per year in these five counties alone.
- Interacting via a website is the most popular way to use telehealth (36%), followed by interacting via email (34%), text messaging (17%), mobile apps (12%), video conferencing (4%), and social media (4%).
- The top barrier to telehealth usage was a concern about the privacy of the information they share. For others, the potential cost, or the potential risk that some costs would not be covered by their insurance or payer, gave them cause for concern.
“Although our focus was primarily on the impact in rural Michigan, this data can help inform the development of telehealth services elsewhere and provide a starting point for additional studies in regions across the United States,” said Frederick. “Our hope is to build upon what we’ve learned in this study and help more people in both rural and urban areas save time and money through telehealth applications and expanding broadband access. Most importantly, we hope it will lead to innovations that can improve the quality of life for all Americans—no matter where they live.”
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