Making Telehealth Understandable for Every Patient: Health Literacy Strategies for Providers

Telehealth has transformed how we deliver care, but for many patients, the virtual environment can also create new barriers. From unknown technology to unclear instructions, gaps in health literacy and digital literacy can limit access and understanding.

Health literacy - the ability to find, understand, and use health information - directly affects whether patients can follow through on care plans. When it comes to telehealth, this also means knowing how to use technology confidently. Research shows that low digital health literacy is linked to poorer health outcomes and decreased engagement in care. This health literacy month, the UMTRC is diving into how providers can use simple strategies to ensure that every patient is able to engage with information about their own health through telehealth.

Why Health Literacy Matters in Telehealth

Telehealth has enormous promise - expanding access, reducing travel burden, enabling frequent touchpoints - but if patients cannot understand or act on information delivered virtually, its benefits will fall short. One study described this issue with the term “Telehealth literacy.” Telehealth literacy, a hybrid concept that involves a patient’s ability to understand health information and navigate technology, measures how well a patient can engage with telehealth options for care.

Low health literacy is associated with worse health outcomes, miscommunication, medication errors, and reduced adherence to treatment. Telehealth may exacerbate disparities even further if telehealth literacy is low. To prevent this and to benefit from the promise of telehealth, providers can proactively adopt strategies to measure and improve health and telehealth literacy to prevent leaving the most vulnerable patients behind.

Assessing Health Literacy in Every Patient

The most important part of ensuring that all patients are included is to learn where each patient is starting from. Patients may balk at formal testing, but even a few quick, conversational questions can reveal a lot. A couple of examples of simple questions to gauge comfort with telehealth can include things as simple as:

• “Have you used a video visit before?”
• “Do you use Zoom or other video conferencing platforms at work or at home?”
• “Did you have any issues with our online portal or scheduling system?”

Other simple questions can reveal a patient’s overall level of health literacy. A few examples include:

• “Could you tell me what conditions or reasons you take your medications for?”
• “After today’s visit, what will you tell a family member or friend about your care plan?”
• “What questions do you have about what we talked about today?”

Questions like these can help uncover both literacy and technology barriers without making patients feel embarrassed. There are structured approaches – like these from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – that might work better for you as well. Every provider is different, and their methods of assessing health and telehealth literacy will be different as well.

Communication Strategies

Once a provider has a good idea of where a patient is coming from in terms of health and telehealth literacy, they can adapt their communication strategies accordingly. There are myriad strategies for encouraging understanding in patients with limited health and telehealth literacy. Here are just a few of them:

Using Language Deliberately

A patient with low health literacy will benefit from the use of plain language. Providers can use simple, nonmedical terms and keep ideas brief and easily understandable. The same should be done around technology for patients with low telehealth literacy.

Open-Ended Questions and Teach-Back Methods

When patients are asked questions like “Do you understand?” it can be easy to answer affirmatively rather than to ask more questions. Short, open-ended questions can more accurately assess comfort in patients with low health literacy. If a provider can start a dialogue rather than just a yes or no response, they can determine if a patient truly understands what was discussed during the appointment.

Another strategy is using “teach back” cues with patients. Ask a patient to describe a care plan in their own words. Patients who struggle to explain or are incorrect may need more information. This is helpful for patients, but also for providers to ensure that both people are on the same page.

Visual Aids

Some patients can benefit from the use of visual aids. That can include anything from showing simple diagrams or images to a provider using whiteboard features of a telehealth platform to sketch things. If a provider uses a diagram or image during an appointment a copy should be provided to a patient after the visit – this can include PDF versions sent via a telehealth platform.  

After-Visit Summaries

The opportunity to promote health literacy doesn’t end when the appointment does, particularly when using telehealth or other digital health technologies. Patient portals can allow patients to quickly access an after-visit summary of what was discussed in the appointment to keep things fresh in their mind.

These after-visit summaries should be written carefully, ensuring that the language is simple and that the main points are all covered. This should include a summary of the problem that prompted the appointment, the care plan that was agreed on by the provider and patient, information about any new medications prescribed, and what the next steps are. There should also be an invitation for patients to reach out if anything is unclear or if they’d like more information. 

There are countless ways that providers (both in-person and via telehealth) can tailor their appointments to be friendly to those with low health literacy. Providers should carefully consider what would be most helpful for them as well as for their patients.

Experts recommend using a “universal precautions” approach—assume every patient might struggle with health literacy at some point and communicate as clearly as possible for everyone. This ensures no one is left behind, regardless of age, education, or digital experience.

Looking Forward

As technology becomes increasingly integrated into the healthcare landscape, it is vital that we work deliberately to ensure that it mitigates health literacy barriers instead of exacerbating them.  Telehealth isn’t just a tool for convenience—it’s a bridge to care. Making it truly accessible requires thoughtful, patient-centered communication that helps every person feel capable, confident, and heard.

More Resources

• Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center – Telehealth and Health Literacy: Promoting Patient Understanding
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – What is Health Literacy?
• Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) – Identifying Limited Health Literacy
• American Association of Family Physicians - Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit