Telehealth: An important piece of health literacy

by Chris McGovern
Director of Research Development
Connected Nation

(Bowling Green, Ky.,) — We’ve come a long way from the days when villagers went to their local barber for medical treatment (for a hilarious history lesson, watch the classic  “Saturday Night Live” skit with comedy legend Steve Martin portraying Medieval Barber, Theodoric of York).  It's a good reminder that knowing where and who to go to get reliable medical advice is critical for your health—at any time in history. 

Although Connected Nation’s (CN) teams have a sense of humor we also understand the serious business of healthcare. All of us need to understand how to access accurate health information.

The ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform our health-related decisions, distinguishing scientific fact from quackery, is called “health literacy,” and October is recognized in the United States as Health Literacy Month.  

As you  may or may not know, CN believes everyone should have access to broadband (high-speed internet). We believe this for a myriad of reasons including how the internet and related technology opens up a world of possibilities for health and wellness.

People can find real-time, accurate information they can understand and use for themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. They can speak with their health care providers for telehealth visits, use interactive health apps, and access virtual coaching.

Public health programs increasingly use dashboards, infographics, and online campaigns to identify and close health literacy gaps. From managing chronic conditions to staying updated on emerging public-health threats, patients and caregivers increasingly rely on broadband to find credible guidance, participate in virtual support groups, and learn about what they can do to keep themselves and their communities healthy.

Health literacy can help build trust between caregivers and their patients, encouraging people to take actions that will help promote their (and their community’s) health. Telehealth services allow patients to seek treatment from health care providers who use plain language and can understand the cultural nuances that will encourage patients to take action to improve their health. Additionally, telehealth services like remote patient monitoring provide accurate, real-time health data that patients and their providers can quickly analyze and act upon.

Connected Nation’s (CN’s) latest study, “Vital signs of satisfaction: The role of remote monitoring in patients' perceptions of telehealth,” focuses on the impact that remote patient monitoring (RPM) has on how rural patients respond to telehealth services.

We found that rural patients who use RPM services (like remote blood pressure, oxygen, or blood sugar levels) are more likely to say that these types of applications saved them money, that these services are more convenient than traveling for an in-person visit, and using these applications provided them with service that was as good as they would have received during an in-person visit.

For many of these rural patients, though, the unmet need for reliable high-speed internet connectivity with low latency speeds limits their ability to access these services from home.

Health literacy requires information — knowing what is true (and how to act on that information) is the first step. CN sees telehealth services as a key to making accessible health information that should be available for all Americans.

The ability to parse out truth from fiction is vital. As Theodoric the Medieval Barber reminds his patient, “Medicine is not an exact science, but we’re learning all the time.”

To learn how Connected Nation is working to improve access to and use of telehealth services, you can visit our website or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or  X (Twitter).