Virtual health for all: Closing the digital divide to expand access

McKinsey March 16, 2023
By Fadesola Adetosoye, Danielle Hinton, Gayatri Shenai , and Ethan Thayumanavan

Affordable broadband with wraparound support could expand access to cost-efficient virtual health for underserved communities. Seven actions could help state and local leaders unlock this opportunity.

The use of telehealth soared during the pandemic, and digital technology is becoming more embedded in US healthcare delivery models.¹ Yet tens of millions of people in the United States face a significant barrier to telehealth—a form of virtual health²—because they either lack access to affordable broadband or face other hurdles to getting online.³ But with the US federal government making more than $100 billion available to close the digital divide, the funding exists to help states make virtual health available to all.

The federal commitment to bring high-speed internet to communities without access...

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