Telehealth has seen a surge in popularity in recent years, thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, a recent study published by in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health shows there is a large divide between rural and underserved communities and other parts of the country in access to high-speed internet, making it difficult for people living in those areas to take advantage of online health services.
It’s a problem that is exacerbated by the fact that rural and underserved communities also tend to have less access to regular health care and are at higher risk for many diseases and other health conditions.
The study featured Neil J. MacKinnon, PhD, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost of Augusta University, as the senior author alongside first author Diego Cuadros, PhD, researcher and epidemiologist with the University of Cincinnati. The team also included researchers from the University of Washington, the University of Hawaii and Hoakkaido University in Japan.
“Telehealth has an awful lot of merit, but the challenge is that telehealth assumes a person has access to high-speed internet. If someone doesn’t have that access, it can make it difficult for patients and doctors alike. This study shows that because of the digital desert concept, the technology divide really could have health consequences by contributing to a greater health divide in the country,” MacKinnon said.
The team conducted a county-level data visualization and spatial analyses of over 3,100 counties across the contiguous United States to assess the geospatial association between digital deserts — areas without broadband internet — and three measures of health care and social vulnerability. The study highlighted disparities in access to digital technology that could widen the gap in access to health care.
“We identified parts of the country that have poor high speed internet access, and attempted to determine if there is a relationship between…
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