The American journal of managed care
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To identify the relationship between patient-centered communication and portal offers and use among insured adult patients and to understand the role of patient-centered communication in equitable access to portals. ⋯ Although patient-centered communication is an important factor in facilitating patient portal offers and access, it does not appear to be a driver of demographic divides in portal use.
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Transitional care management (TCM) services after hospital discharge are critical for continuity of care, and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to telehealth modes of delivery. This study examined the shift from face-to-face to telehealth care around the start of the pandemic (April-July 2020) compared with the same months in 2019 and 2021 and the corresponding 30-day readmission rates. We compared the rates of face-to-face and telehealth TCM as well as face-to-face and telehealth non-TCM services and observed a dramatic shift to telehealth in 2020 with a slight drop-off in 2021. ⋯ These data indicate that this dramatic systemwide shift from face-to-face to telehealth TCM was not accompanied by concurrent changes in either 30-day readmission or mortality rates. Although the findings may be subject to ecologic bias, the data at hand did not allow for reliable estimation of differences in effects of patient-level service delivery type on readmission risk or mortality due to the extremely low volume of face-to-face visits during the pandemic periods. Future research would be needed to conduct such comparisons.
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Limited research has assessed how virtual care (VC) affects cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk management, especially in community clinic settings. This study assessed change in community clinic patients' CVD risk management during the COVID-19 pandemic and CVD risk factor control among patients who had primarily in-person or primarily VC visits. ⋯ Among community clinic patients with CVD risk, receiving a majority of care in person vs a majority of care via VC was not significantly associated with longitudinal trends in reversible CVD risk score or key CVD risk factors.
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To address a lack of research documenting telehealth use and experiences among sexual minority individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic and inform health care policies beyond the pandemic. ⋯ The findings show greater demand for telehealth, especially for mental health care, among sexual minority adults. Knowledge of factors driving patterns in health care utilization within minoritized communities and the implications for both telehealth access and quality are necessary to create policies that have a broad positive impact.
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Few studies have evaluated racial and ethnic differences in several immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) or overlap syndrome (the co-occurrence of ≥ 2 IMIDs). We assessed associations between race and ethnicity and prevalence of IMIDs and overlap syndrome using US claims and electronic health records from 2021. ⋯ We found racial and ethnic differences in the prevalence and co-occurrence of IMIDs in this sample of US adults. Because misdiagnoses are relatively frequent for patients with IMIDs, awareness of racial and ethnic variations in IMIDs could aid early diagnosis and improve disease management.