Telehealth: Improving Access to and Quality of Pediatric Health Care.

Curfman, AlisonL; Hackell, JesseM; Herendeen, NeilE; Alexander, Joshua J; Marcin, James P; Moskowitz, William B; Bodnar, Chelsea E F; Simon, Harold K; McSwain, S David

All children and adolescents deserve access to quality health care regardless of their race/ethnicity, health conditions, financial resources, or geographic location. Despite improvements over the past decades, severe disparities in the availability and access to high-quality health care for children and adolescents continue to exist throughout the United States. Economic and racial factors, geographic maldistribution of primary care pediatricians, and limited availability of pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists all contribute to inequitable access to pediatric care. Robust, comprehensive telehealth coverage is critical to improving pediatric access and quality of care and services, particularly for under-resourced populations.