Starter list: How to bridge the 'digital divide'

What research tells us about the digital divide

There is a wealth of data demonstrating that the digital divide is greater for some populations:

• The Pew Research Center found that only 58% of Black Americans and 57% of Hispanic Americans reported owning a desktop or laptop computer. Meanwhile, 23% of Black Americans and 25% of Hispanic Americans reported being "smartphone only" internet users, meaning they lack traditional home broadband services.
• Pew reports that only 55-60% of American adults aged 65 and older own a smartphone or have broadband internet access.
• It also found that, while 96% of Americans own a cellphone of some kind, among Americans with annual incomes under $30,000, only 82% use the internet, only 71% have cell phones, and only 56% have home broadband access.
• Our Consumer Virtual Visit Survey reports that consumers with annual incomes under $24,000 represented only 18% of all new telehealth users. Consumers with annual incomes above $71,000 represented almost twice that amount, at 33%.
• An Annals of Internal Medicine study found that less than 40% of the people who live more than a 70-minute drive from a primary care physician have the internet bandwidth necessary for a telehealth visit. This demonstrates that physical access challenges can often manifest virtually.
• The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 16% of U.S. adults are not digitally literate, and adults who are not digitally literate are, on average, less educated, older, and more likely to be Black or Hispanic, or born outside the United States.
• Collectively, at least 1 in every 4 Americans may not have the access to technology, access to the internet, or the digital literacy necessary to participate in video visits.

How to confront the digital divide

Left unaddressed, the digital divide means that widescale shifts to telehealth could actually exacerbate health inequities—not reduce them. As health care organizations iterate on the telehealth services they rapidly stood up this spring, they have an opportunity—and obligation to their patients—to address these barriers to virtual care.

Our starter list to bridge the telehealth digital divide offers guidance on how you can promote telehealth equity across your organization by:

• Understanding how the digital divide manifests in your community
• Evolving your telehealth offerings to be more accessible to your vulnerable patients
• Connecting patients with the technology necessary for virtual visits
• Building patients' digital literacy so they can engage in virtual visits
• Raising community awareness of your organization's telehealth offerings

Download our starter list to bridge the telehealth digital divide

Help us add to the list. How is your organization bridging the digital divide?

If your organization is making additional investments to bridge the digital divide for your patients and you think other leaders should know about it, send a brief overview to Ryan Furr-Johnson at RFurrJo@advisory.com