Healthcare Unplugged: Disparities in Broadband Internet and Health Facility Access Among US Counties

Despite telehealth expansion, access may remain lacking in high-burden communities with limited brick-and-mortar health facilities. We aimed to i) examine the relationship between broadband internet access and health facility availability and ii) explore disparities in broadband access. Using data from the 2017 National Neighborhood Data Archive, we obtained data on population density of outpatient care centers, diagnostic labs, and nursing/residential care facilities for 3133 US counties. Broadband access and sociodemographic data were obtained from the 2020 Mapping Broadband Health in America Platform and 2022 American Community Survey. Two-sample t-tests and multivariable linear regressions quantified the association between broadband internet access and health facility density, adjusting for sociodemographic covariates. Counties with low broadband access had 12% fewer outpatient care centers and 48% fewer diagnostic labs than counties with high broadband access (all P < 0.001). A 1% increase in county population without broadband corresponds with a decrease of 0.0451 outpatient care centers, 0.0237 diagnostic labs, and 0.0886 nursing/residential care facilities per 100,000 people (all P < 0.001). Counties with limited in-person health facilities face reduced access to broadband internet, particularly in rural, low-income communities. Expanding broadband infrastructure and health services in these regions is essential.