Academic Pediatrics: Social Determinants Pediatric Primary Care Telehealth and In-Office Visits During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

Academic Pediatrics: Social Determinants Pediatric Primary Care Telehealth and In-Office Visits During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

In this retrospective cohort study of children -17 years across 16 sites within Nationwide Children’s Hospital Primary Care Network from March 22^nd-July 31^st, 2020, researchers compared visit type (in-person vs. telehealth), demographics, presence of individual social needs, and community social determinants, using the Child Opportunity Index 2.0 (COI). The study found that the volume of primary care visits decreased least for high and very high opportunity neighborhoods yet individual social needs were associated with higher relative use of telemedicine. Findings suggest that telehealth was an important modality to deliver care to children with social needs but does not overcome community level barriers.