Digital Bridge or Tradeoff: Telehealth Adoption and Healthcare Service Quality. A Scoping Review

ABSTRACT

As the pressing need to expand the delivery of healthcare has surpassed the traditional limits of implementation, the substantial burden of the COVID-19 pandemic has placed the provision of healthcare services under duress. We explore the outcomes associated with the implementation of telehealth technology in healthcare ecosystems, we are mindful of the challenge in bridging the gap between the potential for extending healthcare technology to overcome the disruption in the provision of health services and the possible effect on the quality of healthcare services. This paper aims to learn from the literature on the impact of Telehealth diffusion on the delivery of quality care. We develop a scoping review and evaluate the outcome through the lens of the six aims of improvement of healthcare quality. We synthesize the literature around managing the disruption, identifying the risks of unintended consequences and factors affecting adoption. We also offer learnings and call to action. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.