Work

Utilization and Satisfaction of an On-Demand Telemedicine Service in Urban and Rural Communities

Year: 2023

Type: book-chapter

Abstract: Health disparities between urban and rural America have been studied extensively, and findings consistently show many inequities. The objective of this study was to evaluate patient experiences and utilization among patients in North Carolina who use telemedicine. A retrospective cohort study was performed to examine the utilization and satisfaction of patients using a virtual care service at a Southeastern Medical Center in the U.S. Of 1974 telemedicine patients, 1366 (79.3%) were female, 1046(60.7%) were between 35-64 years, 913(53%) had insurance coverage. Statistically significant differences between rural and urban patients in how patients rated both their provider (p<0.01) and overall telemedicine experience (p<0.01). Our findings showed high satisfaction scores among both rural and urban communities in using the telemedicine platform with slightly higher scores among rural patients, which shows the need for on-demand telemedicine to increase health access and patient outcomes among rural communities.

Source: Studies in health technology and informatics

DOI: 10.3233/shti230778

Authors: Sara Helvey, Jami Mann, Amir Barzin, Barbara Edson, Saif Khairat

Institution: University of North Carolina Health Care

Language: English

Topic: Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences