Bridging the Technology Gap for Telehealth Services

With lower income communities at a disadvantage for telehealth services, how do we make sure that no one is left behind when it comes to healthcare?

Physicians and healthcare specialists have been relying on telehealth services to provide medical attention to their patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m lucky enough that my family can provide me with technology I need to take advantage of telehealth options. A lot of people in my community are also privileged enough to be equipped with proper technology.

But living in a well-off community, I realized that it’s important not to turn a blind eye to those who don’t have access to necessary technology. Because of wealth disparities in inner cities especially, there are large communities of people who can’t attend attend both in-person visits and telehealth visits. So how can this issue be tackled? Check out how this opportunity center in St. Paul extended their care to patients “on the edge of the virtual world.”

Two words. Telehealth hubs. When I first heard this term, I honestly pictured a (socially distanced) computer lab where patients would hop on a computer for their scheduled telehealth check-up. While this isn’t exactly the case, it turns out I wasn’t too far off!

The Catholic Charities Opportunity Center located in downtown St. Paul has incorporated telehealth hubs into St. Joseph’s Hospital. Since private consultation rooms were vacated due to COVID-19, these spaces were used to place computers into. This way, patients could go through with their virtual check-ups in private. Hospital staff working at St. Joseph’s provide patients with walk-throughs on how to use the equipment and get their appointments started.

The ultimate hope is to place these telehealth hubs in strategic places, often in communities where people don’t have a safe space to talk or have equipment to carry out their virtual appointments. This way, more people in need will be able to utilize telehealth and medical services during this time.

With the increasing digitalization of everyday services, it’s often easy to unintentionally leave out people who don’t have the ability to purchase technology and equipment. However, it’s reassuring that communities are brainstorming ways to make sure that as many people benefit from these services as possible.