Telehealth in Primary Care: Meeting Patient and Family Needs

Abstract

Background: Telehealth is a novel way to provide care to patients and families and may be especially important for families with transportation challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic with social distancing requirements further accelerated the need for the utilization and expansion of telehealth services. Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of rapidly scaling primary-care telehealth and its impact on families’ location of care and associated transportation costs. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at a large, urban, academic primary care center consisting of 6 primary care sites, with approximately 85% of patients …