The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic brought rapid expansion of pediatric telehealth to maintain patient access to care while decreasing COVID-19 community spread. We designed a retrospective, serial, cross-sectional study to investigate if telehealth implementation at an academic pediatric practice led to disparities in health care access. Significant differences were found in pre-COVID-19 versus during COVID-19 patient demographics. Patients seen during COVID-19 were more likely to be younger, White/Caucasian or Asian, English speaking, and have private insurance. They were less likely to be Black/African American or Latinx and request interpreters. Age was the only significant difference in patient demographics between in-person and telehealth visits during COVID-19. A multivariate regression showed older age as a significant positive predictor of having a video visit and public insurance as a significant negative predictor. Our study demonstrates telehealth disparities based on insurance existed at our clinic as did inequities in who was seen before versus during COVID-19.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Telemedicine, telehealth, Disparities, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, pandemic, cross-sectional, pediatric, Spread, Health, implementation, Patient, Older age, Community, Care, retrospective, COVID-19 patient, demographics, Asian, significant difference, rapid expansion, positive, Latinx, English, less, maintain, Significant, 【제목키워드】 urban, clinic,