Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Institute for Health Policy, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2020 Nov 1;27(11):1816-1818. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocaa156.
Telehealth programs have long held promise for addressing rural health disparities perpetuated by inadequate healthcare access. The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic and accompanying social distancing measures have hastened the implementation of telehealth programs in hospital systems around the globe. Here, we provide specific examples of telehealth efforts that have been implemented in a large rural healthcare system in response to the pandemic, and further describe how the massive shift to telehealth and reliance on virtual connections in these times of social isolation may impact rural health disparities for those without access to necessary broadband to deploy digital technologies. Finally, we provide recommendations for researchers and policymakers to ensure that telehealth initiatives do not amplify existing health disparities experienced by those living in rural communities.
远程医疗计划长期以来一直有望解决因医疗保健机会不足而导致的农村健康差距问题。COVID-19（2019 年冠状病毒病）大流行及其伴随的社交距离措施加速了远程医疗计划在全球医院系统中的实施。在这里，我们提供了在一个大型农村医疗保健系统中为应对大流行而实施的远程医疗工作的具体示例，并进一步描述了在这个社交隔离的时代，向远程医疗的大规模转变以及对那些无法获得必要宽带来部署数字技术的人对虚拟连接的依赖，可能会对那些没有获得必要宽带来部署数字技术的人造成农村健康差距的影响。最后，我们为研究人员和政策制定者提供了建议，以确保远程医疗计划不会扩大农村社区居民已经面临的健康差距。
