Study: Some patients faced persistent disparities as orthopedic visits shifted to telemedicine
Like other medical specialties at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, orthopedic surgery rapidly pivoted from in-person visits to remote appointments via telemedicine . Analysis of that initial experience finds that some groups of patients faced persistent or worsening disparities as the shift to telemedicine occurred, reports Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research® (CORR®), a publication of The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons ®. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "We found concerning disparities in access to orthopaedic care via telemedicine for patients, and we observed that those disparities were associated with race or ethnicity, primary language, and insurance status." - Andrew J. Schoenfeld, MD, MSc, Harvard Medical School Can telemedicine 'mitigate rather than exacerbate healthcare disparities'? Telemedicine has the potential to improve healthcare access for hard-to-reach populations. But there are concerns tha...