RISE looks at recent headlines concerning social determinants of health (SDoH).
Telehealth study highlights the divide between rural and urban Americans
Telehealth use became a popular option for patients across the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but there’s a digital divide making it less accessible to some populations, according to a recent analysis published by the AARP, which assessed changes in telehealth utilization from 2019 to 2021 among individuals younger than 65 who are enrolled in private, employer-sponsored insurance plans.
Findings include:
- Telehealth use drastically increased in 2020 during the pandemic, with adults ages 55 to 64 more likely to use telehealth compared with younger individuals.
- The number of people using telehealth dropped slightly in 2021, with telehealth use among adults ages 55 to 64 decreasing from 25 percent in 2020 to 18.4 percent in 2021.
- In 2021, individuals living in rural areas had lower telehealth use (10.5 percent) than those living in urban areas (17.1 percent).
- Mental health care was the most common service accessed via telehealth, accounting for more than half of the claims in 2021.
- Higher levels of telehealth use were associated with several factors, including median household income, mental health provider density, and broadband internet availability.
The researchers noted that while telehealth is particularly important for those living in rural areas, limited broadband availability causes a gap in care access, adding that only 60 percent of rural residents have access to high-speed internet, compared with 95 percent of urban residents.
“Telehealth has the potential to improve access to health care and can be an especially important tool for those with limited access to in-person providers,” researchers wrote. “However, policymakers will need to address the digital divide and ensure that telehealth helps reduce—rather than perpetuate—health inequities.”
ONC: 70% of US hospitals engaged in interoperable exchange in 2023
A large portion of hospitals engaged in interoperable exchange at least some of the time last year, according to a new data brief from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), which found 70 percent of hospitals in the United States engaged in interoperable exchange in 2023.
The report defines interoperability as the ability to exchange electronic health information with and use electronic health information from other systems without special effort on the part of the user. In addition, it includes the ability for health systems to electronically send, receive, find, and integrate health information from electronic systems outside their organization.
Hospitals play an important role in interoperable exchange to ensure that clinicians have access to the most timely and relevant patient health information to make health care decisions. ONC has tracked interoperable exchange among hospitals since 2014, looking at four domains: send, receive, find, and integrate.
The 2023 report takeaways include:
- Seventy percent of non-federal acute care hospitals engaged in all domains of interoperable exchange routinely or sometimes in 2023, maintaining the same level from 2022.
- The number of hospitals routinely engaging in interoperable exchange since 2018 increased by 54 percent; however, less than half of hospitals (43 percent) routinely engaged in interoperable exchange and 27 percent sometimes engaged in interoperable exchange.
- Hospitals’ routine engagement across all four interoperable exchange domains increased from 28 percent in 2018 to 43 percent in 2023.
- A greater share of higher-resourced hospitals reported a higher frequency of interoperable exchange compared to less resourced hospitals (small, rural, critical access, or independent).
- In 2023, 71 percent of hospitals routinely had access to necessary clinical information from outside providers, however, only 42 percent said that clinicians routinely use the information.
- Only 16 percent of hospitals sent summary of care records to most or all long-term/post-acute providers and 17 percent sent summary of care records to most or all behavioral health providers.
“These findings suggest an ongoing need for comprehensive engagement in interoperability across the healthcare continuum. While the adoption of certified health IT by hospitals and physician practices has improved interoperability, achieving nationwide routine interoperable exchange will require additional efforts, as indicated by the certification requirements for health IT aimed at enhancing this exchange.”
HHS announces framework for national plan on aging
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Administration for Community Living, released this week its strategic framework for a national plan on aging.
The framework outlines a coordinated effort between the private and public sectors as well as older adults, family caregivers, the aging services network, and other stakeholders, to create a national set of recommendations to advance healthy aging, including best practices for service delivery, cross-sector partnerships, solutions to remove barriers to health and independence for older adults, and more.
It aims to address a variety of factors individuals may face as they age, such as coordinated housing services, aligned health care and supportive services, accessible communities, age-friendly workplaces, and high-quality long-term services and supports.
“Ensuring that every American can age with dignity has been a priority throughout the Biden-Harris Administration and is at the core of our work at HHS,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement. “From day one, we have focused on lowering prescription drug costs, improving support for family caregivers, strengthening the workforce that provides in-home services, increasing access to health care and more to support older adults. The Strategic Framework provides a roadmap for us to build upon that progress to improve the experience of aging in our country.”