The Transition to Telehealth: A Pilot Model in a New York City Student-Run Free Clinic During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract
Here we describe the development and implementation of a telehealth model for vulnerable, uninsured residents of East Harlem in New York City during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic at a student-run, physician-supervised free clinic. The East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership completed 43 primary care follow-up and 78 urgent telehealth encounters during a six-week trial period during the COVID-19 outbreak, and 40 patients were managed for either suspected or confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses. Telehealth is a useful tool to provide rapid, high-quality care to a large patient population during a pandemic. Challenges include the lack of access to updated technology among patients of lower socioeconomic status and rapidly evolving management guidelines for COVID-19. Telehealth is essential for supporting vulnerable populations during times of reduced physical contact, including the COVID-19 pandemic, but can be applied broadly to all free clinics to augment access.
Copyright (c) 2021 Brittany Glassberg, Kevin Weiss, Terence Hughes, James Meyers, Samir Kamat, Jonathan Pan, James Blum, James Carter, Cynthia Luo, Samuel Powell, Hannah Krystal, David Thomas, David Skovran, Yasmin Meah
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