Abstract 4144669: Hospital-at-Home Digital Health Testing in Underserved versus the General Population

Background: Racial and socioeconomic disparities in healthcare access are well-documented. Minority and rural populations face barriers and often have limited access to healthcare services and facilities. Digital health solutions can help bridge these gaps. Previous studies examining digital health usage patterns have reported mixed findings, with some showing lower adoption among minority/underserved groups and others finding no significant differences compared to the general population. Hypothesis: Minority and rural patients would participate in the digital health intervention at similar rates as non-minority, affluent patients when provided with equal access to cardiologist and device training. Aims: To analyze the variance in usage of digital health products between underserved and general patient populations. Methods: The 5,000-patient clinic serves a population of underserved minority and affluent non-minority patients. All patients were offered cellular-enabled blood pressure cuffs and weight scales that transmitted data automatically to a physician portal as part of routine care. Patients consented to have their data used for research and were instructed to use these devices > 4 times per week for six months, with periodic reminders from clinic staff. Patient participation was tracked, and digital records were analyzed. Results: Demographic information of enrolled patients (n=18) is reported (Figure 1). There was an overall 90% retention rate throughout the six-month study period, including 90% retention from African American patients, 87.5% from indigent patients, and 100% from both rural and inner-city residents. Conclusion: With a modest sample size, this data suggested that minority and rural populations may participate in digital health and remote patient monitoring interventions at the same rate as the general population of patients. This study supports the growing potential of digital health to improve healthcare access for minority and rural communities.