Ortega Gezzer, Rodriguez Jorge A, Maurer Lydia R, Witt Emily E, Perez Numa, Reich Amanda, Bates David W
Center for Surgery and Public Health, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Department of General Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Health Policy Technol. 2020 Sep;9(3):368-371. doi: 10.1016/j.hlpt.2020.08.001. Epub 2020 Aug 15.
While the rapid expansion of telemedicine in response to the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the impressive ability of health systems to adapt quickly to new complexities, it also raises important concerns about how to implement these novel modalities equitably. As the healthcare system becomes increasingly virtual, it risks widening disparities among marginalized populations who have worse health outcomes at baseline and limited access to the resources necessary for the effective use of telemedicine. In this article, we review recent policy changes and outline important recommendations that governments and health care systems can adopt to improve access to telemedicine and to tailor the use of these technologies to best meet the needs of underserved patients. We suggest that by making health equity integral to the implementation of telemedicine now, it will help to ensure that all can benefit from its use going forward and that this will be increasingly integral to care delivery.
虽然为应对新冠疫情而迅速扩张的远程医疗彰显了卫生系统快速适应新复杂情况的惊人能力,但它也引发了有关如何公平实施这些新方式的重要担忧。随着医疗保健系统日益虚拟化,它有可能扩大边缘化人群之间的差距,这些人群在基线时健康状况较差,且有效使用远程医疗所需资源的获取机会有限。在本文中,我们回顾了近期的政策变化,并概述了政府和医疗保健系统可以采用的重要建议,以改善远程医疗的可及性,并调整这些技术的使用,以最好地满足服务不足患者的需求。我们建议,通过将健康公平纳入当前远程医疗的实施过程,将有助于确保所有人今后都能从其使用中受益,并且这将日益成为医疗服务的组成部分。