Telehealth Disparities, Exploring the Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Access, and Utilization

Purpose: The primary objective of this research is to explore how socioeconomic factors such as household income, education, employment status as well as age, race, gender, and geographic location influence the likelihood of individuals to engage in telehealth services.Methods: Data on 9,067 nonelderly adults, including oversamples of low-and-moderate adults by race and ethnicity and an oversample of adults ages 18 to 29 was analyzed from the Health Reform Monitoring Survey (HRFM) were analyzed using binary logistic regression to examine the relationship between demographic variables associated with telehealth service use.Results: The findings show that higher income, education level, and living in a metropolitan area significantly increase the use of telehealth; however, there are still inequalities between age, gender, and ethnic groups. Older age groups, women, and Hispanic participants, in particular, used telehealth at higher rates than their counterparts.Conclusion: The results indicate that socioeconomic status remains a decisive factor in equitable access to telehealth. Reducing the digital divide and developing interventions targeting vulnerable subgroups will be a critical step in reducing inequalities in healthcare.