Role of Telemedicine in Improving Access to Specialized Care in Rural Health Systems and its Future in Health Care Delivery

Abstract

Healthcare access is a universal right of a human yet there are disparities when it comes to the access and availability of healthcare services in urban vs rural areas. Even if there is adequate supply of services in the rural areas, the lack of physician availability limits healthcare access. A comparative study on access to care and services availability among rural and urban adults and children shows that between 2013-2015 the utilization of emergency room (ER) in urban adults is around 34% whereas it is 43.5% in rural adults reflecting on the fact that the rural adults lacked the basic preventative care access and there is an uptick in emergency visits [1]. These limitations that the rural population is facing in accessing health care are resulting in healthcare disparities. This is where Telemedicine is proving to be effective in reducing healthcare access related barriers. Telemedicine is a method of using electronic and telecommunications technology to provide care to members from a distance without the need for the member to be physically present in the provider’s location.