Access to Telemedicine—Are We Doing All That We Can during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in physicians having to switch from in office visits to telemedicine. Unfortunately, physicians and patients did not have adequate time to anticipate barriers to its implementation. Over the last month, one of the major problems has been patient access to telemedicine. Many patients do not own a smartphone or have broadband access. This “digital divide” is not fair to our patients in need—especially those with a cancer diagnosis. Patients deserve access to care. We need to implore insurance companies to provide tablets with wireless capabilities to patients in need.