The Five A's of Access for TechQuity
Cynthia J. Sieck, Mark Rastetter, Jennifer L. Hefner, Autumn R. Glover, Candy Magaña, Darrell M. Gray, Joshua J. Joseph, Bethany Panchal, J. Nwando Olayiwola
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a rapid and significant shift from in-person health care to care delivered virtually, highlighting the impact of disparities in access to technology. Penchansky and Thomas conceptualized the idea of access to health care as comprising five dimensions, known as the Five A's of access: affordability, availability, accessibility, accommodation, and acceptability. Considering these dimensions of access allowed health care systems to dissect barriers to access to better identify ways to overcome them. In the current health care landscape, we must consider technology access. For example, patients without Internet service, appropriate devices, and digital literacy skills experience greater challenges in accessing care via telehealth. To ensure equitable technology access, or techQuity, health care systems must identify data to monitor the Five A's of technology access. We re-envision the Five A's of access as they relate to access to technology for telehealth and present a framework for evaluating a health care system's techQuity.