A number of health systems that I work with (and many that I don’t!) have grown alarmed by disparities in telehealth use. Who connects by video and who by audio? Who tries video but the effort fails, leading to desperate phone calls? Who still comes into the office, risking COVID transmission? Who goes the the Emergency Department because they’ve avoided…
It’s been way too long since I’ve posted a blog on digital inclusion. Simply, I’ve been too busy! Which, when you’ve taken the leap to quit your job for full time consulting, is an unexpected, if not entirely unwelcome situation. Quite frankly, organizations are starting to “get it.” What are they getting? How and why digital inclusion is essential to…
People who are poor, are racial and ethnic minorities and have no insurance or Medicaid are most likely to rate their care quality lower than others. The Telehealth Equity Coalition just published a data story about how telehealth can address these gaps.
It’s possible for health care to try to close digital gaps while ignoring underlying structural racism. But recognizing and confronting it is a better approach.
The National Science Foundation today announced that Cleveland will share $2.7million with 6 other cities testing innovative methods to end the digital divide. Public Health Innovators is proud to work with DigitalC to bring affordable broadband to underserved urban neighborhoods. But we know that just making service available is not enough. Through partnerships with area health systems, we will help patients…
As part of its “Coping Through COVID” series, The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently published an article underscoring the need for more Black mental health counselors. Of course, the well-recognized excess burden of the pandemic among Blacks, who are already facing multiple vulnerabilities, creates more demand for mental health services. And reluctance in the Black community to seek mental health care…
I recently found a 1995 presentation with findings from my doctoral dissertation that are highly pertinent to COVID Vaccine trials. The study included anonymized interviews and surveys with the first high risk (#vulnerable) HIV vaccine efficacy trial participants. No space here to share the results but I thought readers would find the questions of interest:–Motivations for joining the trial (altruism,…
Originally published at innovationmatch.ama-assn.org Telehealth has become a life-saving defense against COVID-19 because it enables infected individuals to be treated from home, reducing the number of contagious people circulating in the community, reducing exposure of health care workers, and preserving scarce PPE resources. Healthcare providers have transitioned to telehealth at breakneck speed, taking advantage of loosened federal and state regulations…
Originally published at covid19healthtech.com “We will not bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control until we see and address gaps that keep tens of millions of people from meaningfully using technology.” — Amy Sheon Healthcare’s Looming Disaster is Hidden in Plain Sight Health systems and technologists have a vital opportunity to mitigate the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic by addressing a…
Originally published at iaphs.org The “Digital Skills and Connectivity as Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)” panel at the IAPHS conference in October 2018 represented an unprecedented reach across sectors to shed light on a hidden SDOH. Dr. Chris Gibbons from the FCCs Connect2Health Task Force shared that the “future of the nation’s health is fundamentally premised on the widespread availability and accessibility…