Pediatric Subspecialty Adoption of Telemedicine Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Early Descriptive Analysis

Abstract

Telemedicine has rapidly expanded in many aspects of pediatric care as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about what factors may make pediatric subspeciality care more apt to long-term adoption of telemedicine. To better delineate the potential patient, provider, and subspecialty factors which may influence subspecialty adoption of telemedicine, we reviewed our institutional experience. The top 36 pediatric subspecialties at Stanford Children's Health were classified into high telemedicine adopters, low telemedicine adopters, and telemedicine reverters. Distance from the patient's home, primary language, insurance type, institutional factors such as wait times, and subspecialty-specific clinical differences correlated with differing patterns of telemedicine adoption. With greater awareness of these factors, institutions and providers can better guide patients in determining which care may be best suited for telemedicine and develop sustainable long-term telemedicine programming.