Sarah Gilson|Craig A Umscheid|Neda Laiteerapong|Graeme Ossey|Kenneth Nunes|Syed G. Shah
Growth of Ambulatory Virtual Visits and Differential Use by Patient Sociodemographics at One Urban Academic Medical Center During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective Analysis
University of Chicago|University of Chicago|University of Chicago|University of Chicago|University of Chicago|University of Chicago
despite widespread interest use virtual ie telephone video visits ambulatory patient care covid19 pandemic studies examining adoption pandemic race sex age insurance lacking moreover limited evaluations date impact sociodemographic factors use telephone versus video visits assessments crucial identify understand address differences care delivery across patient populations particularly could affect access quality carethe aim study examine changes ambulatory visit volume type ie inperson vs virtual telephone vs video visits patient sociodemographics covid19 pandemic one urban academic medical centerwe compared volumes patient sociodemographics age sex race insurance visits first 11 weeks following covid19 national emergency declaration march 15 may 31 2020 visits corresponding weeks 2019 additionally visits covid19 study period examined differences visit type ie inperson versus virtual telephone versus video visits sociodemographics using multivariate logistic regressiontotal visit volumes covid19 study period comprised 514 corresponding weeks 2019 n80081 vs n155884 visits although patient sociodemographics covid19 study period 2020 corresponding weeks 2019 similar 605 n48475 visits virtual compared 0 2019 virtual visits 612 n29661 video based 388 n18814 telephone based covid19 study period virtual vs inperson visits likely among patients race categorized vs white patients medicare vs commercial insurance less likely men patients aged 017 years 6574 years 75 years compared patients aged 1845 years patients medicaid insurance insurance categorized among virtual visits compared telephone visits video visits likely adopted patients aged 017 years vs 1845 years less likely age groups men black vs white patients patients medicare medicaid vs commercial insurancevirtual visits comprised majority ambulatory visits covid19 study period majority video sociodemographic differences existed use virtual versus inperson video versus telephone visits ensure equitable care delivery present five policy recommendations inform development virtual visit programs reimbursement