Elementary school-based telehealth is associated with reduced school absences and has society-wide benefits outweighing program costs.

Background

Illness is a key cause of school absences, which impact academic success, child well-being, and cause parents to miss work. School-based health services hold promise for reducing school absences. Use of telehealth within school-based health centers has been increasing and can help overcome barriers to providing health services in schools. This study evaluated the impact of an elementary school telehealth program on student absences and conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the program.

Findings

This quasi-experimental study evaluated telehealth impact at six elementary schools in a mid-Atlantic county from 2015-2017 compared to schools in the same county without telehealth programs. A total of 4,203 students — 771 enrolled in telehealth and 3,432 with access to standard health services — were included in the study. The telehealth intervention was associated with a 7.7% decrease (.60 of a day) in school absences. The cost-benefit analysis found an annual program benefit of $195,873 when weighing program costs against the benefits of reduced school absences and parental work missed, converted to a monetary value. The study did not have access to health care utilization to factor into the cost-benefit analysis.

Program/Policy Takeaways

There is evidence that elementary school-based telehealth programs can support child well-being through reducing school absences. Health care stakeholders and policymakers seeking to support school-based telehealth programs may consider society-wide benefits of such programs, in addition to health care outcomes, to help build the case for and develop cross-sector partnerships to support telehealth program implementation.