ArticleApplied clinical informatics2023
A Prescription for Internet: Feasibility of a Tablet Loaner Program to Address Digital Health Inequities.
Article in Applied clinical informatics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Strategies to improve telehealth access for culturally and linguistically diverse communities: a systematic review.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Clinician Decision-Making Around Offering Home Video Telehealth Visits: Qualitative Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Consumer Involvement in the Co-Design of Diabetes Self-Management Smartphone Apps: A Scoping Review.Applied clinical informatics · 2025Article
- Article
- Synchronous virtual care in children's health care: a scoping review.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Review
- Perspectives of community-based organizations on digital health equity interventions: a key informant interview study.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2024Article
- The State-of-the-Art of Patient Portals: Adapting to External Factors, Addressing Barriers, and Innovating.Applied clinical informatics · 2023Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic accelerated the adoption of telehealth technologies. Persistent disparities in telecommunication devices, internet connectivity, and digital literacy, however, undermine the potential for telemedicine to reduce barriers to health care access. Health systems may have a role in addressing these structural inequities. We describe the operationalization and feasibility of an internet-enabled tablet loaner program at a freestanding children's hospital.
methodsBetween October 2020 and October 2021, pediatricians enrolled families through ambulatory clinics at an academic urban freestanding children's hospital. Eligibility criteria included difficulty accessing virtual care due to lack of stable internet or device. Tablets featured an unlimited data package, access to the patient portal, and virtual visit platform. A private technology company managed device configuration and distribution. To characterize program impact, we compared the proportion of completed clinical encounters during the intervention compared with a preintervention period (March 2020-October 2020) and conducted a qualitative survey with program participants. Participant and visit characteristics were obtained from the electronic medical record and summarized with descriptive statistics.
resultsA total of 111 families participated in the tablet loaner program, the majority of whom were Hispanic (51.4%) and black, non-Hispanic (26.1%), and publicly insured (64.9%). Between the preintervention and intervention periods, there was a significant increase in completed video- and phone-based virtual visits (75.3 vs. 79.1%,
conclusionThe tablet loaner initiative was associated with an improvement in markers of virtual visit engagement and health care experience. Efforts to expand telemedicine equity must consider technological access and digital literacy as well as broad coalitions across industry, government, and community organizations.
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Registered trials
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