A system-wide approach to digital equity: the Digital Access Coordinator program in primary care

The rapid transition to a digital front door of healthcare prompted by the pandemic made evident disparities in who had access to digital tools. Like other healthcare organizations, at the beginning of the pandemic, we found disparities in access to patient portals and video visits. Digital disparities are driven by multiple factors including lack of internet access, devices, language-adapted platforms as well as limited digital literacy. Our organization undertook initiatives to address these factors including a device loaning program, patient portal translation, and digital literacy support. In this case report, we focus on addressing digital literacy gaps by implementing a digital navigation program to improve disparities in patient portal enrollment. Digital navigation has been identified as a potential solution for digital disparities by providing support for patients with limited digital literacy, but large-scale integration of digital navigation in the healthcare setting has been limited.