UC Irvine

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in rapid increases in telehealth utilization across all age groups. Although older adults had previously been overlooked as the primary focus for disparity-reducing telehealth interventions, their high rates of morbidity and mortality dictate that they now be placed center stage. These changes in healthcare delivery highlight the need to further increase access to telehealthcare for older adults to avoid exacerbation of health disparities. Digital health innovations need to be mobilized to help find better ways to protect older adults.Objective: To effectively implement a geriatric-inclusive telehealth program at an academic medical center, barriers to care must be adequately explored. PICOT: This study posed the following research question: What are ways to mitigate barriers (I) for healthcare providers (P) to provide effective care for geriatric patients via telehealth (O) as compared to usual in-office care (C) during the COVID-19 pandemic (T)? Research Design/Methods: Telehealth barriers and facilitators were identified through semi-structured interviews with two Healthcare Providers (HCPs) and two Information Technologists (IT) employed at a large urban academic medical center’s geriatric specialty clinic. Thematic analysis using the qualitative interview data was conducted. Results: The following telehealthcare themes emerged: (1) improved patient care as the major benefit; (2) the necessity of educational and technical support for telehealth program success, and (3) improving provider utilization. Conclusion: With a well-designed support and educational infrastructure, providers can rapidly deploy telehealth and remote patient monitoring solutions to improve older adult patients’ access to care and improve healthcare outcomes.