According to a study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine seems to effectively eliminate the historical racial gap in show rates to follow-up appointments after hospitalizations.
The researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have analyzed data from 2019-2021 showing that attendance or “show” rates at follow-up appointments after hospitalization climbed among Black patients from 52 to 70 percent when telemedicine became one of the main modes for primary care visits.
This was comparable to White patients, whose visit completion rates at primary care follow-up appointments were 67 percent by the middle of 2020. The boost the researchers documented effectively eliminated the historical racial gap in show rates to follow-up appointments.