What facilitated telehealth can do to improve care for high-need groups

What facilitated telehealth can do to improve care for high-need groups

Dr. Rahul Sharma, emergency physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center Photo: NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center The promise of telehealth has not been fully realized in populations with great health inequities, a new study shows, with the same factors that lead to poor health and poor access contributing to low use of digital health services. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association finds significant association between the use of telehealth services and improved healthcare access and outcomes in communities negatively impacted by health disparities. But to truly achieve those quality improvements – while tackling social determinant of health challenges and trimming costs – virtual care should be delivered with a bit more of a hands-on approach, said Dr. Rahul Sharma, emergency physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Sharma is a co-author of that  JAMIA report  – along with coll…