The impact of digital competence on telehealth utilization

•Greater digital competence among those with traditional home internet access are associated with increased odds of telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic.•Greater digital competence among telehealth users during the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with increased odds of continuing telehealth use after the COVID-19 pandemic.•Findings point to the need to complement the rollout of telehealth services and broadband access with digital upskilling and literacy programs to ensure equitable access to remote healthcare options. Telehealth use has increased steadily since the mid-2000′s when technology shifted from voice-only systems to live video-conferencing and other technologies supported by broadband Internet. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in exponential growth in telehealth use. As telehealth systems become increasingly complex and gain widespread adoption, this study explores how users’ digital competences affect telehealth use. We apply a series of multivariate logit models to a representative sample of California adults with Internet access surveyed in early 2021. We estimate the impact of self-reported digital competence–using items from the digital skills assessment scale–on a participant's likelihood of telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the likelihood to continue using telehealth beyond the pandemic. The findings show that a one-unit increase in digital competence is associated with 72.8% greater odds of telehealth use (p