Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Connected Health
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2024.1264893
This article is part of the Research Topic Telehealth and Connected Health: Equity and Access to Care View all 5 articles

Examining Differences in Time to Appointment and No-Show Rates between Rural Telehealth Users and Non-users

Kristin Pullyblank Kristin Pullyblank *Nicole Krupa Nicole Krupa Melissa Scribani Melissa Scribani Amanda Chapman Amanda Chapman Megan Kern Megan Kern Wendy Brunner Wendy Brunner
  • Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, New York, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Telehealth has undergone widespread implementation since 2020 and is considered an invaluable tool to improve access to healthcare, particularly in rural areas.However, telehealth's applicability may be limited for certain populations including those who live in rural, medically underserved communities. While broadband access is a recognized barrier, other important factors including age and education influence a person's ability or preference to engage with telehealth via video telehealth or a patient portal. It remains unclear the degree to which these digital technologies lead to disparities in access to care.Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to determine if access to healthcare differs for telehealth users compared with non-users.Methods: Using electronic health record data, we evaluated differences in "time to appointment" and "no-show rates" between telehealth users and non-users within an integrated healthcare network between August 2021 and January 2022. We limited analysis to patient visits in endocrinology or outpatient behavioral health departments. We analyzed new patients and established patients separately.Results: Telehealth visits were associated with shorter time to appointment for new and established patients in endocrinology and established patients in behavioral health, as well as with lower no-show rates for established patients in both departments.Conclusions: The findings suggest that those who are unwilling or unable to engage with telehealth may have more difficulty accessing timely care.

    Keywords: telehealth, health equity, access to care, Rural Population, Disparities in Care

    Received: 21 Jul 2023; Accepted: 12 Jan 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Pullyblank, Krupa, Scribani, Chapman, Kern and Brunner. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kristin Pullyblank, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, New York, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.