The challenge

With the rapid shift to telehealth at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the team at Seattle Children’s Hospital knew that a portion of their patient population would be left behind. But they didn’t have any existing metrics or measurement methods that could accurately identify those patients, making it difficult to help them.

The organization

Seattle Children’s Hospital is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The 400-bed organization provides inpatient and outpatient services across the Pacific Northwest.

The approach

Seattle Children’s began addressing digital inequities by layering social vulnerability data on top of patients’ locations and no-show rates to identify patients in need. A community resource team works with those patients to determine the best methods of support. Lastly, Seattle Children’s Hospital works within the community to deploy loaner devices and set up community kiosks.

The result

The concentrated efforts to address digital inequities helped Seattle Children’s Hospital reduce the gap in telehealth use and the variance in MyChart activation rates among different demographic groups. The team also learned valuable lessons in how to increase technology adoption among all types of patients.