Digital Health Equity: Investigating the Impact of Training Providers' Perceptions of Telehealth Encounters with Professional Language Interpretation Services
Date of Award
Spring 2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Healthcare Administration (DHA)
Committee Chair
Karen Lankisch
Committee Member
John Suozzi
Committee Member
Dail Fields
Abstract
Barriers for patients with limited English Proficiency (LEP) were identified decades ago but still plague the healthcare system in the United States. These inequities were further exposed during COVID-19 and challenge policy makers and researchers to examine the health system under a different lens. Literature is replete with providers providing insight on several shortcomings of telehealth such as the process in which technology is implemented within organizations, inefficiencies in workflows and barriers for some communities. Further, the coupling of telehealth encounters with language interpretation services creates more hesitancy amongst clinicians according to Rodriguez et al. (2020). Recently, Garber and Gustin (2022) published that a lack of available training is a common theme when studying physician hesitancy and the rate at which physicians adopt telehealth. Medical schools increasingly provide formal training on conducting telehealth visits (American Association of Medical Colleges, 2022). Yet, there remains a gap in training on how to effectively conduct synchronous video visits that include professional language interpreters. This study explored the impact of providing providers with practical tips on how to partner with professional language interpreters during telehealth encounters. This research measured the perceived ease-of-use component within the technology acceptance model (TAM) (Davis, 1989). Findings from this research have the potential to improve digital health equity by informing future curriculum development for medical education and training of providers to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate care during telehealth encounters.
Recommended Citation
Smarr, Crystal, "Digital Health Equity: Investigating the Impact of Training Providers' Perceptions of Telehealth Encounters with Professional Language Interpretation Services" (2024). All Doctoral Student Dissertations. 156.
https://fuse.franklin.edu/docpub/156