Telehealth’s Waiting Room Is the Library

Digital Inclusion Week falls on the first full week of October. The annual event aims to raise awareness of digital equity and the importance of inclusion in an increasingly digital world. Among these concerns is telehealth, a service that, while extremely convenient for some, can become an added barrier to health care for others. Thankfully, libraries across the US are adapting their spaces to increase digital equity for patrons in rural and underserved communities.

What Is Telehealth?

Sometimes called virtual health visits, telehealth includes medical services delivered through personal electronic devices, dedicated monitoring devices, and secure web portals. Although it gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth is not new. Early forms of remote medicine date back to the late nineteenth century, with major advancements in the 1950s and 1960s when NASA began monitoring astronauts in space. Post-pandemic, telehealth has become a convenient tool for both patients and doctors, improving access, reducing hospitalizations, and increasing affordability.

Benefits

For some people, telehealth can be more accessible than visiting a traditional doctor’s office. It reduces congestion in waiting rooms and hospitals by allowing patients to be seen from the comfort of home. Additionally, seeking medical care can be difficult for people experiencing financial insecurity, making telehealth a cost-effective alternative. As technology advances, the range of virtual treatments continues to grow, allowing providers to treat acute conditions more easily.

Challenges

While telehealth benefits many, it presents challenges for others. Rural communities, older people, and underserved populations are more likely to experience difficulties with virtual care. Roughly 17 percent of people in rural areas lack access to high-speed internet, which is essential for telehealth. Virtual health care can also have drawbacks for any patient, including technical difficulties, limited care options, and privacy concerns.

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Intersecting Libraries and Telehealth

Given these barriers, libraries across the country have begun developing solutions to bridge the gap, especially for rural communities. Libraries already provide free access to computers and wifi, and community rooms can be reserved for personal use. That said, libraries are not medical centers and are not inherently designed to meet those needs; HIPAA regulations and patient confidentiality can be compromised in public spaces. Thankfully, librarians are finding creative ways to overcome these obstacles.

Technology Advancement

Libraries are expanding their technology services to meet patrons’ telehealth needs. For starters, they are expanding broadband access, so wifi is faster and more reliable, allowing patrons to take virtual visits from their cars. Some branches are also setting aside telehealth-specific tablets, webcams, and laptops with instructions in both English and Spanish. Others provide wifi hotspots for use at home and or lend basic medical equipment—like blood pressure monitors—through their library of things.

Additional Privacy

A primary reason a patron may avoid using the library for telehealth is that it’s difficult to have a private medical appointment in a public setting. As a result, libraries have started offering alternatives to basic community rooms. For example, the Kearns branch of the Salt Lake County Library system in Utah implemented a dedicated virtual visit room. The space includes a pulse oximeter, a blood pressure cuff, and a wifi hotspot. The room supports reliable medical appointments and allows the provider to analyze vitals directly from the library. Other locations have added assistive infrastructure, such as soundproofed telehealth pods, for added privacy and security.

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Medical Resources

Alongside over-the-counter equipment, library patrons can utilize free resources like books and research databases for further information about their appointments. Some libraries have enlisted volunteer or student nurses to provide basic medical care for telehealth patrons, while others offer free preventive health care through wellness classes, vaccination clinics, and nutrition resources.

Digital Navigators

One of the biggest challenges facing telehealth is digital literacy. Older adults generally have more difficulty navigating complex virtual visit portals or the steps needed to attend their appointments. Librarians often act as digital navigators—trained individuals who provide individualized support to patrons. Digital navigators play an essential role in ensuring accessibility in an increasingly digital world. Librarians can help tech-hesitant patrons set up medical accounts, navigate software, and securely log in to complete their visits.

As telehealth continues to evolve, digital equity and accessibility become more important. Libraries provide patrons without access to high-speed internet, equipment, or a private space with the means to conduct virtual visits. Because branches must be updated to meet these needs, ongoing funding remains vital to their success.

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