Maternity & Family Benefits
September 2, 2020
COVID-19 has overloaded the healthcare system and upended access to care. But as restrictive rules about care delivery have been adjusted to fit this new reality, the healthcare community has a chance to usher in a new, more inclusive future of care, one in which virtual support plays an increasingly important role.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 30% of prenatal care has been modified or cancelled, while a 215% increase in planned home births, and 70% drop in children vaccines, indicate that regardless of care modifications, people are opting to stay home to avoid in-person visits. Increasing access to virtual support services is the only way health plans and employers can get ahead of the fall out from COVID-19, and beyond.
The notion that increasing access to virtual support can improve health outcomes is not a new one. Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, Founder and President of The National Birth Equity Collaborative, has long envisioned a future of medicine in which access to providers, social support, and case management is all possible virtually. She’s been fighting to provide virtual care to under-resourced communities for years. Concern about how virtual settings could impact care quality historically obstructed virtual care delivery, but now, providers are opening virtual options, and they're finding that in many cases, virtual care is just what the doctor ordered.
As the healthcare community begins to reimagine care delivery, Dr. Crear-Perry notes that we must be extremely thoughtful to avoid deepening or perpetuating inequalities. This begins by investing in and designing accessible, inclusive programs. Inclusivity is essential, especially today, as Black women are 1.4 times more likely to be asked to modify their visits. Simultaneously, 61% of Black women report that their modified visit covered less information compared to a normal visit. ¹
Virtual support is a key pillar of inclusive care. By prioritizing and investing in virtual support, the healthcare community has a chance to center the experiences of individuals who are unable to access traditional forms of care, rather than retroactively incorporating these perspectives. And still, even as we normalize virtual support, we must expand the definition beyond video calls to include asynchronous chat with providers, self-monitoring functionality, appointment reminders, and fetal movement tracking.
As Dr. Joia Crear-Perry reminds us, it is essential to meet people where they are. This will require patience as widespread comfort with virtual care delivery increases, but one thing is clear: the days of episodic care delivery are over.
Three important takeaways
For more information on building an equitable future, download our webinar with Dr. Joia Perry
Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, Founder and President of The National Birth Equity Collaborative, joined Ovia Health in June for a critical conversation on the current state of birth equity, how changes in our healthcare system due to COVID-19 threaten to impact communities of color, and what health plans and employers can do to mitigate and prevent adverse outcomes. You can download the complete webinar here.
¹ Ovia Health survey data