Telemedicine For Older Adults: How Urgent Care Clinics Can Help Bridge The Gap

1. Telemedicine For Older Adults: How Urgent Care Clinics Can Help Bridge The Gap

2. The use of telemedicine has expanded exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and rightly so, given its numerous benefits—making high-quality medical care accessible to deserving populations, reducing the risk of exposure to infection, besides being convenient and affordable! • Nevertheless, this mode of virtual care has gained traction relatively slowly, as not all those in need consider themselves “ready” or “prepared” to receive telemedicine services—a perfect case in point in this context: older adults.

3. A recent study found that about 13 million older adults expressed “unreadiness” to receive telemedicine services. • With reports that telemedicine appointments were made by 1 in 4 older adults in the United States since the coronavirus outbreak in 2020, this concern gains even more precedence. • Let’s understand the various challenges older adults face while using telemedicine services, and more importantly, what health care services can do to bridge the gap.

4. Technological Challenges • One of the most important challenges this target group faces is digital literacy. • While many of us may be adapting to Zoom and WebEx meetings, many older adults are admittedly not technologically savvy. • Some might find it difficult to independently navigate through the latest video-conferencing platform available on the market.

5. Privacy and Security Concerns • Then, there are also inhibitions about security and privacy of personal information, which go a long way in determining how patients perceive telehealth solutions. • However, there is hope given that most telemedicine tools currently in use are required to be HIPAA-compliant. HIPAA, or The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is a law passed to safeguard patients’ health records. • Therefore, most providers, including Urgent Care Hawaii, use systems that ensure patient privacy is prioritized, and all confidential data are securely stored electronically.

6. Physical Challenges • Some older adults may be limited by physical challenges such as difficulty hearing, seeing (even with glasses), or even speaking clearly. There might be others with conditions like dementia, for whom telemedicine appointmentsmay not always be effective. • In such scenarios, how can caregivers ensure that the patient has understood the instructions and will follow prescriptions?

7. How can Urgent Care ClinicsHelp Bridge the Gap? • Below, we discuss some of the ways how clinics can offer additional support to ensure older adults feel more comfortable for their telemedicine appointments: • By assisting older adults in getting familiar with the required technology before the appointment. • By offering alternative modes of communication, e.g., telephonic consult rather than video call.

8. 3. By ensuring higher levels of engagement and interaction during the telemedicine appointment to screen and gauge the patient’s metal and physical well-being and receptiveness. 4. By requesting a family member or caregiver to participate in the telemedicine appointment. 5. By offering in-person visits to the clinic to those extremely uncomfortable with a virtual-based care consultation. 6. By providing an end-of-session summary of what was discussed during the telemedicine appointment.

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