Questão 8 - IDOMED Medicina 2023/1

SOME MEDICALLY COMPROMISED PATIENTS MAY NOT BENEFIT FROM TELEMEDICINE

 

by University of California, Irvine

 

(1ˢᵗ §) Telemedicine, which has seen a rapid expansion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, benefited some sectors of the population, but research led by the University of California shows that the benefits were not evenly felt across all race/ethnic groups. Limited English proficient, medically underserved patients faced several language and socioeconomic barriers that may have compromised the services' effectiveness.

(2ⁿᵈ §) Prior to the pandemic, telemedicine was an optional, convenient format for doctors and nurses to deliver healthcare and provide advice to patients who desired the convenience of "seeing" their primary care physician or a nurse virtually. With COVID-19, federal and state policy changes were adopted that allowed for the rapid expansion of telemedicine services across the U.S., as temporary measures to lessen the spread of the virus during the early stages of the pandemic.

(3ʳᵈ §) "Unfortunately, the convenience of telemedicine wasn't felt by all groups. Our study highlights the importance of understanding the structural vulnerabilities of patients from marginalized communities, whose perspectives have largely been left out of conversations about this emerging healthcare service," said corresponding author Denise Diaz Payán, Ph.D., MPP, an assistant professor of health, society, and behavior at the UCI Program in Public Health. "We found that older patients with limited English proficiency and digital literacy faced the greatest barriers in accessing quality telemedicine services", said the professor.

Adapted from: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-02-non-english-speaking-medically-compromised-patients-benefit.html. Accessed August 22. 2022.

According to the article, the main problem faced by telemedicine is related to its: