Telehealth Content From United States Chiropractic State Board Websites Compared With Medical and Physical Therapy Websites During the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective

The purpose of this descriptive study was to evaluate the presence of telehealth content on chiropractic state board websites compared with websites from the medical and physical therapy professions during the early COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

State board websites for chiropractic, medicine, and physical therapy for each of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia were searched for the word “tele” to determine if there was a link on the homepage for content related to telehealth guidance. If there was none, the homepage was queried for the word “COVID” to determine if there was a link for COVID-19–related guidance. If yes, that linked COVID-19 page was queried for the word “tele.” Consensus of 4 of 5 reviewers was sought. Binary results were entered into a separate spreadsheet for each profession (telehealth content easily accessible, yes or no). Easily accessible was defined as information found within 1 or 2 clicks. This search was performed between January 1, 2021, and March 1, 2021.

Results

There were 11 of 51 (21%) chiropractic state board websites that provided content regarding telehealth on the main page, 8 of 51 (16%) provided content on a separate COVID-19–related page, and 32 of 51 (63%) did not provide content that was accessible within 1 or 2 clicks. Comparatively, 9 of 51 (18%) medical state board websites provided content regarding telehealth on the main page, 20 of 51 (39%) provided content on a COVID-19–related page, and 22 of 51 (43%) did not provide content that was accessible within 1 or 2 clicks. Lastly, 10 of 51 (20%) physical therapy state board websites provided content regarding telehealth on the main page, 19 of 51 (37%) provided content on a COVID-19–related page, and 22 of 51 (43%) did not provide content that was accessible within 1 or 2 clicks.

Conclusion

Telehealth content was more readily available on medical and physical therapy state board websites compared with chiropractic state board websites in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.