Telehealth’s Crucial Role in Improving Health Literacy

October is Health Literacy Month, a time to raise awareness of the issue of health literacy across the U.S. and discuss ways to improve it. Nearly nine out of 10 adults in the U.S. struggle with health literacy, meaning they have trouble finding, understanding and using health information and services. Telehealth can play a pivotal role in mitigating these struggles and creating more accessible health information for patients.

A patient’s health literacy impacts their understanding of and adherence to their treatment plan, including symptom management, medications, appointment cadence and more. Telehealth can increase patients’ adherence to treatment plans, as recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force, through tools like medication reminders, symptom reporting, measuring of vitals and condition-specific education.

Effective communication between providers and patients also affects a patient’s health literacy. The more frequent and accessible communication is, the more a patient can consult with their doctor, understanding the intricacies of their condition and treatment plan. Telehealth can improve patient-physician communication by providing a more convenient and frequent means of communication, rather than only speaking with your doctor at traditional, in-person appointments that are often only a few times a year.

For patients who struggle with health literacy, understanding whether a situation is emergent or not can be difficult. Through telehealth utilization and remote patient monitoring, patients can track their condition and symptoms over time, helping them to understand trends in their symptoms. This improves a patient’s ability to identify an abnormal health situation. And in cases where patients may be unclear about a symptom, telehealth can enable fast and convenient communication with their provider, who can consult with them in real-time.

Navigating the complex health care system can be difficult for any patient, especially seniors enrolled in Medicare who may not be familiar with certain forms and processes. Telehealth tools can help guide patients through complicated forms or finding the right specialists for them.

Unfortunately some populations are more vulnerable to lower health literacy rates than others, including adults 65 and older, like those enrolled in Medicare, minority groups, low-income individuals and individuals with chronic diseases. Telehealth can help increase access to care for these communities. 

Telehealth is a vital tool to support more accessible, high-quality health care. Congress must act with urgency to extend critical Medicare telehealth flexibilities set to expire at the end of this year, and build on strong bipartisan support for telehealth by making solutions that would permanently protect patient access to virtual care a priority.

Learn more about how Congress can act to protect telehealth HERE.