Racial and ethnic differences in hypertension-related telehealth

A new study in the peer-reviewed journal Telemedicine and e-Health found that hypertension management via telehealth increased among Medicaid recipients regardless of race and ethnicity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to read the article now.

Jun Soo Lee, PhD, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and coauthors, reported that from February-April 2023, the number of hypertension-related telehealth outpatient visits per 100 persons increased from 0.01 to 6.13, and the number of hypertension-related in-person visits decreased from 61.88 to 52.63.

The investigators found that Hispanic adults with hypertension had both the lowest cost per telehealth visit and the highest proportion of hypertension-related telehealth visits.

“Expanding telehealth use could potentially reduce existing disparities related to hypertension,” stated the investigators. “For example, Hispanic individuals have lower levels of hypertension awareness and treatment compared to non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black adults. Telehealth offers an opportunity to address this through evidence-based practices like self-measured blood pressure monitoring, increased language concordance with a clinician, and culturally adapted lifestyle interventions.”

“The application of telehealth for patients with hypertension can enable better patient care and personal patient management,” says Charles R. Doarn, MBA, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal and Research Professor in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, and Director of the Space Research Institute for Discovery and Exploration at the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

About the Journal

Telemedicine and e-Health is an Official Research Journal of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) and an Official Journal of Digital Health Canada and the International Society for Telemedicine & e-Health. The Journal is led by Editor-in-Chief Charles R. Doarn, MBA, FATA, and is the leading peer-reviewed journal for cutting-edge telemedicine applications for achieving optimal patient care and outcomes. Complete tables of contents and a sample issue are available on the Telemedicine and e-Health website.

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a global media company dedicated to creating, curating, and delivering impactful peer-reviewed research and authoritative content services to advance the fields of biotechnology and the life sciences, specialized clinical medicine, and public health and policy. For complete information, please visit the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. website