Extent of telehealth use in rural and urban hospitals

Marcia M Ward; Fred Ullrich; Keith Mueller

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Extent of telehealth use in rural and urban hospitals

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Extent of telehealth use in rural and urban hospitals

Marcia M Ward, Fred Ullrich and Keith Mueller

Rural policy brief, 2014-4, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis

01/01/2014

PMID: 25399469

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Abstract

Key Findings. Data from 4,727 hospitals in the 2013 HIMSS Analytics database yielded these findings: (1) Two-thirds (66.0% of rural defined as nonmetropolitan and 68.0% of urban) had no telehealth services or were only in the process of implementing a telehealth application. One-third (34.0%rural and 32.0% urban) had at least one telehealth application currently in use. (2) Among hospitals with "live and operational" telehealth services, 61.4% indicated only a single department/program with an operational telehealth service, and 38.6% indicated two or more departments/programs with operational telehealth services. Rural hospitals were significantly less likely to have multiple services (35.2%) than were urban hospitals (42.1%) (3) Hospitals that were more likely to have implemented at least one telehealth service were academic medical centers, not-for-profit institutions, hospitals belonging to integrated delivery systems, and larger institutions (in terms of FTEs but not licensed beds). Rural and urban hospitals did not differ significantly in overall telehealth implementation rates. (4) Urban and rural hospitals did differ in the department where telehealth was implemented. Urban hospitals were more likely than rural hospitals to have operational telehealth implementations in cardiology/stroke/heart attack programs (7.4% vs. 6.2%), neurology (4.4% vs. 2.1%), and obstetrics/gynecology/NICU/pediatrics (3.8% vs. 2.5%). In contrast, rural hospitals were more likely than urban hospital to have operational telehealth implementations in radiology departments (17.7% vs. 13.9%) and in emergency/trauma care (8.8% vs. 6.3%).

United States

Diffusion of Innovation

Hospitals, Rural - statistics & numerical data

Hospitals, Urban

Humans

Rural Health Services - statistics & numerical data

Telemedicine - statistics & numerical data

Telemedicine - utilization

Urban Health Services - utilization

Details

Title: Subtitle: Extent of telehealth use in rural and urban hospitals
Creators: Marcia M Ward
Fred Ullrich
Keith Mueller
Resource Type: Report
Series: Rural policy brief; 2014-4
PMID: 25399469
Publisher: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis; Iowa City Iowa, USA
Number of pages: 4 pages
Grant note: U1C RH20419 / PHS HHS
Language: English
Date published: 01/01/2014
Academic Unit: Remote care & Telehealth Research Center; Health Management and Policy; RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis; Public Policy Center (Archive)
Record Identifier: 9984221746302771

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