Abstract

Telehealth programs have long held promise for addressing rural health disparities perpetuated by inadequate healthcare access. The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic and accompanying social distancing measures have hastened the implementation of telehealth programs in hospital systems around the globe. Here, we provide specific examples of telehealth efforts that have been implemented in a large rural healthcare system in response to the pandemic, and further describe how the massive shift to telehealth and reliance on virtual connections in these times of social isolation may impact rural health disparities for those without access to necessary broadband to deploy digital technologies. Finally, we provide recommendations for researchers and policymakers to ensure that telehealth initiatives do not amplify existing health disparities experienced by those living in rural communities.

中文翻译：

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应对Covid-19大流行的远程医疗：对农村卫生差距的影响。

摘要

远程医疗计划长期以来有望解决因医疗保健获取不足而造成的农村医疗差距。COVID-19（2019年冠状病毒病）大流行以及随之而来的社会疏远措施加速了全球医院系统中远程医疗计划的实施。在这里，我们提供了针对农村大流行而在大型农村医疗系统中实施的远程医疗工作的具体示例，并进一步描述了在社会隔离的时代，向远程医疗的大规模转变和对虚拟连接的依赖可能如何影响农村医疗差距适用于无法访问必要的宽带以部署数字技术的人们。最后，