Coast Guard Health Care: Information on Telehealth Usage
Fast Facts
The Coast Guard began offering video and telephone telehealth appointments to its personnel in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this Q&A, we reported that the benefits of the Coast Guard's telehealth program include increasing access to medical care for personnel located in remote locations. However, there are challenges. For instance, inconsistent internet connectivity aboard Coast Guard vessels could limit the use of telehealth while at sea.
We found that the Coast Guard is working to address these challenges. For example, it is in the process of improving its internet capabilities aboard its vessels.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Coast Guard began offering video and telephone telehealth appointments to its personnel in 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to officials. The Coast Guard piloted an updated video telehealth platform in 2022 across behavioral health clinics, with full deployment to primary care settings occurring in September 2023. The service continues to formalize its telehealth program; for example, the Coast Guard formalized its telehealth policy in December 2023, and Coast Guard officials told GAO they are working on establishing standardized scheduling practices for telehealth appointments and improving their monitoring capabilities.
According to Coast Guard officials and documents, the benefits of telehealth include increasing access to medical care for personnel located in remote locations and maximizing staff resources at Coast Guard clinics. Challenges the Coast Guard identified include issues with the Coast Guard's IT infrastructure that may, for example, limit the use of telehealth while at sea due to inconsistent internet connectivity aboard Coast Guard vessels.
GAO found that the Coast Guard has plans to address these challenges. For example, the service is in the process of improving its internet capabilities aboard its vessels and is developing standardized scheduling practices for telehealth appointments in Coast Guard clinics.
Why GAO Did This Study
The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 includes a provision for GAO to report on aspects of the Coast Guard's telehealth program. This report describes how the Coast Guard uses telehealth to provide medical care to its active duty personnel, as well as describes telehealth benefits and challenges identified by Coast Guard officials and documents.
To conduct this work, GAO reviewed Coast Guard telehealth policy and guidance documentation, interviewed officials, and conducted site visits to three Coast Guard clinics and three afloat sickbays. Additionally, GAO obtained and reviewed data on the Coast Guard's use of video telehealth from the Defense Health Agency, which manages the video platform. GAO analyzed data from October 2022, the earliest data available at the time of the request, through December 2023, the most recent available at the time of GAO's work.
For more information, contact Alyssa M. Hundrup at (202) 512-7114 or hundrupa@gao.gov.