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. 2022 Aug;28(8):1178-1185.
doi: 10.1089/tmj.2021.0381. Epub 2021 Dec 30.

Telehealth Utilization in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Current State of Medical Provider Training

Ragan DuBose-Morris  1 , Christina Coleman  2 , Sonja I Ziniel  3   4 , Dana A Schinasi  5 , S David McSwain  6
Affiliations

Telehealth Utilization in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Current State of Medical Provider Training

Ragan DuBose-Morris et al. Telemed J E Health. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the development of telehealth services and thus the need for telehealth education and training to support rapid implementation at scale. A national survey evaluating the current state of the telehealth landscape was deployed to organizational representatives, and included questions related to education and training. Materials and Methods: In the summer of 2020, 71 survey participants (31.8%) completed an online survey seeking to determine the utilization of telehealth services across institutional types and locations. This included data collected to specifically compare the rates and types of formal telehealth education provided before and during the pandemic. Results: Thirty percent of organizations reported no telehealth training before COVID-19, with those in suburban/rural settings significantly less likely to provide any training (55% vs. 82%) compared with urban. Pandemic-related training changes applied to 78% of organizations, with more change happening to those without any training before COVID-19 (95%). Generally, organizations offering training before the pandemic reported deploying COVID-19-related telehealth services, while a higher percentage of those without any training beforehand reported that they either did not plan on providing these services or were in the early planning stages. Discussion: Telehealth education is moving from elective to essential based on the need to prepare and certify the workforce to support high-quality telehealth services. Conclusions: As telehealth continues to evolve to meet the future health care service needs of patients and providers, education and training will advance to meet the needs of everyday clinical encounters and broader public health initiatives.

Keywords: COVID-19; medical education; online education; research; telehealth; telemedicine; training.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests, personal financial interests, employment by an organization that may gain or lose financially from the publication of the article, or personal relationship that may inappropriately affect the integrity of the research reported.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Telehealth training before COVID-19 by organization type (p = 0.242).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Telehealth training before COVID-19 by patient population and setting.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Telehealth training modifications since COVID-19 by training category (p = 0.020).
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Influence of telehealth training before COVID-19 on usage of telehealth by service types.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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