Comparing Federal Communications Commission and Microsoft Estimates of Broadband Access for Mental Health Video Telemedicine Among Veterans: Retrospective Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of telemedicine in health care. However, video telemedicine requires adequate broadband internet speeds. As video-based telemedicine grows, variations in broadband access must be accurately measured and characterized.

Objective

This study aims to compare the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Microsoft US broadband use data sources to measure county-level broadband access among veterans receiving mental health care from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Methods

Retrospective observational cohort study using administrative data to identify mental health visits from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020, among 1161 VHA mental health clinics. The exposure is county-level broadband percentages ca

SUBMITTER: O'Shea AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11342002 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature