An examination of broadband internet access limiting the utilization of teledermatology in Missouri
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Introduction Telemedicine is an effective method for increasing access to care and teledermatology has become increasingly integrated into dermatology practices. An examination into the availability of broadband internet access was conducted to determine how the utilization of teledermatology could be limited in Missouri. Methods Missouri county level data was analyzed for broadband internet access between the fiscal years of 2020-2022 from exploreMOhealth. The Health in Rural Missouri Biennial Report 2020-2021 was utilized for rural/urban county classification. Missouri statewide data was analyzed for broadband coverage from the American Community Survey 2017-2021. Data from the Federal Communications Commission was utilized for definitions of broadband internet. Results Teledermatology includes the store-and-forward technique and the live-interaction technique. Only the live-interaction technique requires broadband internet access. Four Missouri counties have under 65 percent of households with broadband internet connection while only 29 Missouri counties have over 80 percent. The 16 urban Missouri counties have greater percentages of households with broadband internet connection compared to the 99 rural Missouri counties. Conclusion Roughly 20 percent of Missouri residents lack access to broadband internet. Patients in rural counties would benefit from increased utilization of teledermatology due to the increased distance to dermatology clinics. However, utilization of the live-interaction teledermatology technique may be limited for patients in rural counties distanced from large cities due to a lack of broadband internet connection.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.