Examining the Relationship Between Telehealth Utilization and Emergency Department Utilization Across Groups
Date
2021-08
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Abstract
Telehealth has the potential to transform the delivery of healthcare by broadening access to preventive and non-emergency service. Although there has been some achievement with telehealth, there are still ongoing issues around telehealth in emergency departments and delays of healthcare with specific racial and ethnic populations (Chen et al., 2016; Healthy People, 2020; Heppner et al., 2021). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between telehealth and ED utilization across groups. This study employed a cross-sectional design utilizing data from the 2019 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). A Chi-square test was used to evaluate the relationship between utilization of telehealth services and ED visits. Also examined was the relationship between self-reported delays in care and ED visits. A paired-samples t-test was used to evaluate the differences between the number of emergency departments visits between telehealth services utilized. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was used to assess differences in emergency department utilization across races/ethnicities. A Kruskal Wallis test was used to evaluate differences in self-reported delays in care across race/ethnicity categories. There was a significant difference in self-reported delays in care and emergency department visits (p <.05), emergency department utilization across ethnicity categories (p <.05), and in self-reported delays in care across race/ethnicity categories (p < .05). No significant difference was found in the number of emergency departments visits between those who did and did not self-report utilizing telehealth services (p >.05). Self-reported delays in care and the number of self-reported emergency department visits were significantly different (p < .01).
Keywords: telehealth, delays in healthcare, ethnicity, emergency department visits
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Public Health
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Public Health