Increased use of telemedicine in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic closed the “appointment completion gap” between Black and non-Black patients at a large academic medical center, according to findings published in Telemedicine and e-Health. Krisda H. Chaiyachati, MD, MPH, MSHP, and colleagues estimated appointment completion rates for all adults scheduled for a primary care appointment within a large academic medical center using EHR data. They specifically examined completion rates for Black patients versus non-Black patients in 2020 compared with 2019 during four time periods: pre-pandemic (January 1-March 12, 2020); shutdown (March 13-June 3, 2020); re-opening (June 4-September 30, 2020), and second-wave (October 1-December 31, 2020). Across 1.9 million appointments, appointment completion rates between Black and non-Black patients improved at all time points: +1.4 percentage points pre-pandemic, +11.7 percentage points during shutdown, +8.2 percentage points during re-opening, and +7.1 percentage points during the second wave (all P values, <0.001). The findings indicate that telemedicine could improve access to primary care for Black patients, according to Dr. Chaiyachati and colleagues.
