Before the Covid-19 pandemic, healthcare facilities were already met with a shortage of human and material resources to provide care. With four million women seeking prenatal care annually in the United States, the healthcare system without adequate resources is bound to experience huge gaps in the access and delivery of prenatal care.
One of these gaps includes delays in accessing healthcare. In many parts of the country, it can take a woman about 5 to 6 weeks or more to get into an OB doctor's office to start prenatal care. Ultimately, it becomes almost impossible for both women and healthcare providers to have the recommended number of office-based visits, that is 12 to 14 visits for low-risk pregnancies.
These delays in accessing prenatal increase the risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, worse outcomes have been predicted due to reduced availability and accessibility of healthcare across the country and globally.
Consequently, telemedicine as a complementary model of healthcare delivery is the life-saver. However, while telemedicine may be the way forward to bridge the gaps, can every patient benefit optimally from it?
Online doctors have been shown to play an important role in the delivery of care during this pandemic. However, there are pregnant women who for several reasons will not be able to access, utilize, and invariably benefit from telemedicine. These include women from low-income earning families, those living in rural areas, women with no or poor educational background, and women living with disabilities, amongst others.
Telemedicine requires the use of digital devices, wireless network services, and certain costs to be efficient. The following affect the use and positive outcome of telemedicine:
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Approximately 85% of Americans have access to a smartphone. However, disparities remain among low-income and low-education populations. According to a study, 26% of the more than 600,000 Medicare beneficiaries living in communities lacked access to a computer with high-speed internet or a smartphone with a wireless data plan.
According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 21 million Americans lack high-speed internet access, especially those living in rural areas. It doesn’t help that other studies state that the number is way higher, estimating it to be 42 million people. This goes to say that poor network service and wireless signal coverage can worsen health disparities.
While telemedicine may significantly save costs from traveling, lost work hours, babysitting, etc., it does not eliminate certain arising costs. Pregnant women from low-income households may be faced with financial difficulties in buying a smartphone or tablet as well as connection plans.
While some people may lack knowledge and skills on how to operate cellphone, telemedicine apps and software may pose more problems. Several apps from different healthcare facilities implies different instructions for booking and having virtual appointments. Pregnant women with poor technological literacy about ICT may not enjoy digital prenatal care as well as a positive patient and physician experience.
Telemedicine, particularly video-related visits can widen the gap that telemedicine aims to bridge in prenatal care. Healthcare professionals, community stakeholders, and the U.S. government should ensure that interventions are put in place to prevent worse outcomes.
Some clear-cut recommendations include:
At My Virtual Physician, we are concerned with bridging the gaps in healthcare delivery. A visit to us helps you get your prenatal care started while you await your appointment with your local OB doctor.
More so, our software is easy to understand and use. We are available to help guide you through your pregnancy and answer any questions that may arise. We are in network with many insurance health plans including Medicaid, Medicare, United HealthCare, and Blue Cross.
