Patient Characteristics Associated With Phone and Video Visits at a Tele-Urgent Care Center During the Initial COVID-19 Response: Cross-Sectional Study.
Patient Characteristics Associated With Phone and Video Visits at a Tele-Urgent Care Center During the Initial COVID-19 Response: Cross-Sectional Study.
复制标题
在最初的COVID-19响应期间，与电话和视频访问远程紧急护理中心相关的患者特征：横断面研究。
DOI：
10.2196/50962
复制
发表时间：
2024-01-19
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
卫生系统迅速采用远程医疗作为应对COVID-19大流行的替代医疗保健提供模式。人口统计学因素，如年龄和性别，可能会在患者选择电话或视频访视方面发挥作用。然而，目前尚不清楚电话和视频访问之间的利用率是否存在差异。本研究旨在探讨在疫情初期，一家远程紧急照护诊所的病患特征、病患利用与服务特性。我们对紧急护理患者进行了一项横断面研究，在大流行的最初阶段，他们使用全州范围内的按需远程医疗诊所，由委员会认证的医生提供服务。研究数据收集时间为2020年3月3日至2020年5月3日。在1 803次远程医疗就诊中，1 278名（70.9%）患者为女性，730名（40.5%）患者年龄在18至34岁之间，1 423名（78.9%）患者没有保险。远程医疗模式与性别（P<0.001），年龄（P<0.001），保险状况（P<0.001），处方（P<0.001）和等待时间（P<0.001）之间存在显著差异。电话访问比视频访问更能访问农村地区（P<.001）。我们的研究结果表明，为患者提供电话和视频选项的组合为各种患者亚组提供了额外的灵活性，特别是生活在互联网带宽有限的农村地区的患者。根据患者性别、年龄和保险状况，利用率存在显著差异。我们还发现了电话和视频访问之间的处方管理差异，需要进行额外的调查。
Health systems rapidly adopted telemedicine as an alternative health care delivery modality in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Demographic factors, such as age and gender, may play a role in patients’ choice of a phone or video visit. However, it is unknown whether there are differences in utilization between phone and video visits. This study aimed to investigate patients’ characteristics, patient utilization, and service characteristics of a tele-urgent care clinic during the initial response to the pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional study of urgent care patients using a statewide, on-demand telemedicine clinic with board-certified physicians during the initial phases of the pandemic. The study data were collected from March 3, 2020, through May 3, 2020. Of 1803 telemedicine visits, 1278 (70.9%) patients were women, 730 (40.5%) were aged 18 to 34 years, and 1423 (78.9%) were uninsured. There were significant differences between telemedicine modalities and gender (P<.001), age (P<.001), insurance status (P<.001), prescriptions given (P<.001), and wait times (P<.001). Phone visits provided significantly more access to rural areas than video visits (P<.001). Our findings suggest that offering patients a combination of phone and video options provided additional flexibility for various patient subgroups, particularly patients living in rural regions with limited internet bandwidth. Differences in utilization were significant based on patient gender, age, and insurance status. We also found differences in prescription administration between phone and video visits that require additional investigation.