By Barby Ingle, PNN Columnist 

This year I was fortunate to visit all 15 counties in Arizona, from large cities and rural areas to those considered “frontier” and tribal reservations. I talked to patients, providers and caregivers about the stress points in their access to healthcare. I was in towns with no EMS, no hospital, and no specialists.

Seeing these disparities in healthcare closeup was an eye-opener for me. Imagine being injured or needing surgery, and you must take a helicopter to get immediate care. It’s like living on another planet.  

We can ensure that underserved communities have equal access to healthcare services, regardless of location, by providing remote and rural areas with access to telemedicine. Although the ability to access the internet is still difficult in some areas, services like Elon Musk's Star Link are being utilized to improve healthcare no matter where you live. 

With the recent pandemic, we were able to utilize telemedicine more often and see advancements in digital health solutions. Healthcare professionals can now remotely diagnose, treat and monitor patients from a distance. But will relaxed telehealth rules continue in the same form now that the pandemic has ended? Many of the details are still being worked out.

Mobile applications and wearable devices enable patients to monitor their vital signs and share the data with providers, allowing for remote monitoring and proactive intervention. They can also empower patients to more closely monitor their own health, receive medical advice, and manage chronic conditions from their homes.

With the increased availability of internet connectivity and mobile networks, technology has the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery and improve health outcomes in remote and underserved regions. Several steps can be taken to address the digital divide in healthcare between urban and rural areas.

First, it is crucial to educate individuals about the benefits of technology and digital health tools. Technology can reduce transportation barriers, provide on-demand health advice, and minimize the risk of exposure to infectious diseases by enabling patients to stay at home.

Second, partnerships between stakeholders, such as academia, the private sector and government can help narrow the digital divide by leveraging resources to place healthcare technology where it is most needed. By building awareness, partnerships and targeting resources, it will be possible to bridge the digital divide and ensure that all communities have access to healthcare technology.

Here are some specific steps that can be taken:

• Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment in underserved communities to understand their unique healthcare challenges, cultural context and technological requirements. A needs assessment can involve surveys, interviews and focus group discussions with community members, healthcare providers and other stakeholders.

• Engage community members, healthcare professionals, and technology experts in a co-design approach. This means collaborating with the community to design and develop healthcare technology solutions that align with its needs, preferences and capabilities.  

• Adopt a user-centered design approach to make sure healthcare technology is user friendly.  Involve people from underserved communities in testing and interface design to ensure the technology is accessible, culturally appropriate and easy to operate.

• Consider the affordability and sustainability of healthcare technology by addressing cost barriers. ensuring compatibility with low-resource settings, and developing tools that can operate with limited infrastructure or connectivity.

• Provide training and support for people to utilize healthcare technology effectively. The training should include digital literacy programs, capacity-building workshops, and ongoing technical assistance.  

By involving underserved communities in the design process, healthcare technology can be tailored to their specific needs, leading to increased adoption and improved healthcare outcomes. It is crucial to prioritize the needs of these communities to ensure that they are included in the design and development of healthcare technology. By doing so, we can create more effective and sustainable solutions that genuinely address the healthcare challenges faced by underserved communities.

I am grateful for the opportunity to talk to patients, providers and caregivers in Arizona, thanks to a grant from HealtheVoices, Respond & Rescue, KB Companies and the International Pain Foundation. I look forward to continuing to gather feedback from underserved communities nationwide. By listening to patients and understanding their unique healthcare challenges, we can work towards creating meaningful solutions that improve access to care and overall health outcomes. 

Barby Ingle is a reality TV personality living with multiple rare and chronic diseases. She is a chronic pain educator, patient advocate, motivational speaker, and best-selling author on pain topics. You can follow Barby at www.barbyingle.com.