Digital Medicine and Social Inequality: A Sociomedical Review of Telehealth Access

Abstract The emergence of digital medicine has improved the delivery of health-care but, it has also exposed new forms of social inequalities. Access to telehealth as a multi-dimensional sociomedical issue. Numerous forces shape the issue of access to telehealth. Affordability, availability, acceptability, usability, and timeliness are important. Because telehealth can break down geographical and logistical barriers to care, many populations don’t benefit equally. The ability to access video consultation, web portals, remote monitoring, and digital follow-up may reduce among the low-income, elderly, rural community members, persons with disabilities, migrants, linguistically diverse people and patients with low digital literacy. The review states that telehealth use is strongly affected by device ownership, the affordability of internet and platform design, and reimbursement and trust in digital care. In order for telehealth equity to be realized, more than simply having access to the technology is required. Continuity of care, communication, privacy, satisfaction, and clinical outcomes have to be comparable. To tackle digital health disparities, we must invest in broadband investments, subsidize devices, and train consumers on the digital world. This means creating multilingual telehealth services, platforms designed from users’ perspectives, inclusive reimbursement models, and hybrid care pathways driven by patients. Understanding telehealth as a technology will limit understanding about its proper use and impact which is basically a function of access to resources, skills, institutional support etc. which can be better addressed by framing it as a social intervention. If digital medicine does not take a fair approach it may reproduce or exacerbate existing inequalities.