A Telehealth Initiative to Overcome Health Care Barriers for People Experiencing Homelessness

Telemedicine and e-Health Journal: A Telehealth Initiative to Overcome Health Care Barriers for People Experiencing Homelessness

A new study examined the use of telehealth to provide care for people experiencing homelessness. Several barriers limit access to care for the homeless population, such as high costs of care, transportation access, and lack of health insurance. Results from the patient and provider surveys support the use of telehealth to improve access. With regard to technology access, more than half (50.8%) had access to a mobile phone, 71.4% to a computer, and 77.8% to the internet. The study concluded that telehealth is a feasible and potentially cost-effective method to increase access to health care and reduce health outcome disparities in people experiencing homelessness.