Scheduled and Attended Pediatric Primary Care Telemedicine Appointments During COVID-19

Background: The aim of this study was to examine pediatric primary care telemedicine visit scheduling and attendance during the first year of telemedicine.

Methods: Using electronic health record data from two academic pediatric primary care practices between April 2020-March 2021, we used Pearson χ tests and logistic regression models to identify child-, family-, and appointment-level characteristics associated with scheduled and attended telemedicine appointments.

Results: Among 5178 primary care telemedicine appointments scheduled during the 12-month period, the proportion of appointments scheduled differed over time for children in families with a language preference other than English or Spanish (4% quarter 1 vs. 6% in quarter 4, p = 0.01) and residing in ZIP codes with the lowest household technology access (24% in quarter 1 vs. 19% in quarter 3 (p = 0.01). Four thousand one hundred and forty-eight of 5178 scheduled telemedicine appointments were attended. Likelihood of attending a telemedicine appointment was highest for children in families with a language preference other than English or Spanish (90%, 95% CI 86-94% compared to Spanish 74%, 95% CI 65-84%), and same-day appointments (86%, 95% CI 85-87%). Attendance among families preferring Spanish language was higher in later months compared to earlier months.

Conclusions: We found disparities in scheduling and attending telemedicine appointments, but signs of greater language equity over time.