Can You See Me Now?: Understanding Health Outcomesin Telehealth Among Seniors

ABSTRACT

Objective: The aim of this study is to understand how telehealth impacts the needs of the senior population in the outpatient general neurology clinic providing care for an underserved and rural population. Background: Telehealth services are increasing due to the ongoing global pandemic and overall advancement of technology. Despite the telehealth platform's ability to alleviate many obstacles, it can present new challenges for the elderly population. The senior population currently face a subset of barriers to healthcare, such as disabilities, chronic disease, healthcare costs, limited transportation, and preventing Covid-19 exposure. Design/Methods: Morehouse Healthcare in Atlanta, Georgia provides telehealth services to all of their patients in the general Neurology outpatient clinic. We implemented the IHI PDSA guidelines by assisting people greater than fifty years of age who were being evaluated for a neurological disorder were included. The level of assistance included (1) written help, (2) written and verbal help (3) no help. Written help consisted of prewritten instructions. Verbal help involved coaching participants over the phone. Notations were made if the patient received help from a family member. Patients were excluded if their account was activated on their smartphone. Patients also had the option to opt-out of using the platform. Results: The number of patients who did not require assistance with activating their accounts decreased with age 50-59 (41%), 60-69 (23%), 70-79 (23%), 90-99 (14%). 70-79 was the large subset to accept assistance (50%). 60-69 was the largest subset to opt-out (38%). Prior to the outreach, most patients over the age of 50 had not activated their accounts. Following the phone calls, 36% successfully activated their accounts. Conclusions: This study helped identify the subsets of the aging population that need supplemental outreach for activating their telehealth accounts. Acknowledging the technological barriers that seniors may face can help improve health outcomes, especially for patients without caregivers.