DOI: 10.1177/10556656231187291 ISSN:

Analyzing Linguistic Disparities in Telehealth Care Outcomes at a Multidisciplinary Craniofacial Center

Elizabeth Danial, Jennifer Rios, Ryan Badiee, Glenn Rosenbluth, Jason H. Pomerantz
  • Otorhinolaryngology
  • Oral Surgery
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Objective

To examine linguistic disparities between English- and Spanish-speaking patients in access to care, satisfaction, and telehealth appointment attendance.

Design

Retrospective study recording demographics for non-attendance analysis and conducting phone surveys assessing satisfaction with telehealth.

Setting

Data was collected between March and December 2020 at the UCSF Craniofacial Center (CFC), a multidisciplinary pediatric clinic. Patients: English- and Spanish-speaking patients with a telehealth appointment. Interventions: The CFC offered language-concordant outreach, assistance with the telehealth platform, and interpreters at all telehealth appointments.

Main Outcome Measures

Demographics and patient-reported satisfaction with telehealth, barriers, and instruction clarity.

Results

Medicaid insurance was the only predictor of non-attendance. Surveys revealed that Spanish-speakers had 12.4 times the odds of lacking access to telehealth technology and 10.7 times the odds of needing help with logging on compared to English-speakers. There were no significant differences in satisfaction outcomes.

Conclusions

We attribute this equity in satisfaction to our language-concordant outreach efforts.

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