What You Should Know:
– . Together with nonprofit, academic, and industry partners, the Telehealth Equity Coalition (TEC) has formed to improve access to quality and affordable healthcare by increasing adoption of telehealth, especially among those who have been left out or left behind.
– Founding members of the TEC include Adaptation Health, American Telemedicine Association, BlackDoctor.org, Foley & Lardner, Grapevine Health, Hims & Hers, Howard University Dept. of Community & Family Medicine, Health Innovation Alliance, National Digital Inclusion Alliance, National Health IT Collaborative For the Underserved, National MS Society, and TechNet.
– Today, marginalized and underserved communities still struggled to access care despite broadening telehealth services due to a range of factors including digital literacy and access to technology. Through this Coalition, The National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved, Inc. (NHIT®) will contribute access to the NHIT – Data Fusion Center for members of TEC. The Data Fusion Center is a project that brings together experts from industry, academia and communities, to assess and measure important indicators of access and use of telehealth.
“Equity is essential when it comes to healthcare, and equity when it comes to telehealth should be no different. Without truly equitable telehealth access, our country is exacerbating existing disparities. Participating in the Telehealth Equity Coalition represents a logical extension of NHIT’s work to engage underserved populations in the development and use of health technology as a means to support and sustain health equity and economic viability,” said Luis Belen, CEO, National Health IT Collaborative.
