A Single Intervention in a Spanish-Speaking Population Enhances Access to Telemedicine in Pediatric Epilepsy
Abstract number :
1.36
Submission category :
13. Health Services (Delivery of Care, Access to Care, Health Care Models)
Year :
2021
Submission ID :
1826304
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/4/2021 12:00:00 PM
Published date :
Nov 22, 2021, 06:53 AM
Authors :
Pamela Pojomovsky McDonnell, MD - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Yessenia Ortiz - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Nicholas Abend, MD, MSCE - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Michael Kaufman, MS - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Alexander Gonzalez, MS, MBA - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Xilma Ortiz-Gonzalez, MD, PhD - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Ingo Helbig, MD - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Rationale: Children in Spanish-speaking families face health care access barriers. Latino children, including those in Spanish-speaking families, experience more delays in care, are less likely to have a usual source of health care compared with other groups, and receive fewer specialty referrals and testing. The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a rise in the need for access to telemedicine. In a prior study analyzing over 2,000 child neurology telehealth encounters we demonstrated that participation in telemedicine was less frequent in racial and ethnic minorities, including Latino families.
Methods: This study targeted Spanish-speaking parents who required an interpreter but were being seen by a Spanish-speaking neurologist. At our institution, access to telemedicine care requires that patients have access to an electronic patient portal. Families without access to the patient portal at the time of visit were provided instructions in Spanish (either verbally by physician or Spanish-speaking coordinator) or in a written fashion before, during, or after visit completion. A chart review was conducted after the intervention to establish which patients were able to successfully complete telemedicine visits after the intervention compared to those who did not receive assistance in activating their electronic patient portal.
Results: There were 66 patients seen by a Spanish-speaking neurologist. Thirty-one patients had the patient portal activated and thus did not need an intervention. Among the 35 patients without patient portal access, 24 received the intervention (69%) while 11 did not receive the intervention (31%). Following the intervention, 21/24 (88%) activated the patient portal. Among those with patient portal activation, 17/21 (80%) had a telemedicine visit (15/21 with Neurology and 2/21 with a different department). Thus, a total of 17/24 (71%) who received the intervention were able to undergo telemedicine appointments. None of the patients who did not receive the intervention activated the portal and thus none had subsequent telemedicine visits.
Conclusions: Our pilot project shows that a single and simple intervention that provides instructions in the parents’ primary language led to a high proportion of families activating the patient portal and thereby accessing subsequent care via telemedicine.
Funding: Please list any funding that was received in support of this abstract.: No funding was received.
Health Services (Delivery of Care, Access to Care, Health Care Models)