Expansion of telemedicine during COVID-19 at a VA specialty clinic.
Healthc (Amst)
; 10(1): 100599, 2022 Mar.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1536582
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
COVID-19 rapidly accelerated the implementation of telemedicine in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) specialty care clinics. This mixed-methods study was conducted at a VA medical center to understand the use of telemedicine, and the barriers and facilitators to its implementation, in cardiology outpatient clinics.METHODS:
Quantitative analyses modeled monthly trends of telemedicine use over 24-months (March 2019-March 2021) with segmented logistic regression and adjusted for socio-demographic predictors of patient-level telemedicine use. Qualitative interviews were conducted (July-October 2020) with eight cardiology clinicians.RESULTS:
At the onset of COVID-19, likelihood of telemedicine use was â¼12 times higher than it was pre-COVID-19 (pâ¯<â¯0.001). White (ORâ¯=â¯1.38, 95% CI1.23-1.54), married (ORâ¯=â¯1.25, 95% CI1.11-1.40), Veterans with other health insurance (ORâ¯=â¯1.19, 95% CI1.06-1.35), were more likely to use telemedicine. Veterans with higher health risk factors were less likely (ORâ¯=â¯0.95, 95% CI0.93-0.97). Facilitators to rapid expansion of telemedicine included prior telemedicine experience; provider trainings; and staff champions. In contrast, lack of technical support and scheduling grids for virtual visits and patient ability/preference served as barriers.CONCLUSIONS:
Findings suggest that once mutable barriers were addressed, the medical center was able to expand its telemedicine efforts during COVID-19. Beyond the pandemic, a hybrid of virtual and face-to-face care might be feasible and likely beneficial for healthcare providers and patients in specialty care. IMPLICATIONS The ability to rapidly transition from in-person to virtual visits can potentially assist with the continuity of care and management of chronic disease during infectious outbreaks and other major disasters that obstruct traditional care models.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Telemedicine
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Healthc (Amst)
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS