ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

  • Home
  • Meetings Archive
    • ACR Convergence 2020
    • 2020 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting
    • 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting
    • 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting
    • 2017 ACR/ARHP PRSYM
    • 2016-2009 Meetings
    • Download Abstracts
  • Keyword Index
  • Advanced Search
  • Your Favorites
    • Favorites
    • Login
    • Register
    • View and print all favorites
    • Clear all your favorites
  • Meeting Resource Center

Abstract Number: 1586

Rheum Service: Comprehensive Virtual Care During COVID-19

Stephanie Gottheil1 and Joseph Carson1, 1London Rheumatology, London, ON, Canada

Meeting: ACR Convergence 2020

Keywords: Access to care, Patient reported outcomes, Quality Indicators, quality of care

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
Save to PDF
Session Information

Date: Monday, November 9, 2020

Session Title: Measures & Measurement of Healthcare Quality Poster

Session Type: Poster Session D

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: During COVID-19, patients require timely access to rheumatologists while adhering to physical distancing guidelines. In this quality improvement project, we developed a comprehensive virtual pathway for rheumatology consults in a new community practice. We aimed to deliver a virtual experience, called “Rheum Service”, which rivaled or exceeded traditional in-person care. 

Methods: We used quality improvement methods to implement a virtual process with three phases: pre-visit, visit, and post-visit. In the pre-visit phase, we emailed appointment details and digital questionnaires to patients, and offered training for video-calls. In the visit phase, we enlisted multiple secure video platforms in case of technical difficulties. In the post-visit phase, we offered patients a digital consultation report and access to secure physician messaging. 

Our outcome measures were the percentage of 1) consults using video-calling; 2) patients interested in future video appointments; and 3) video-visit diagnoses that changed after in-person visits. We collected data for all new consults between April 8 – June 11, 2020, and we emailed anonymized patient experience surveys one week after all video consults.

Results: Pre-visit, we scheduled 135 new patients in the 10 week study period; 119 (88%) by video, 15 (11%) by phone, and 1 (1%) by office visit. Twenty-one patients (16%) did not have a video-enabled device, 6 of whom borrowed a device. Prior to their appointment dates, 88% (119/135) of all patients completed questionnaires, and 10% (12/119) of the video cohort participated in video training. 

We completed 98% (116/119) of scheduled video consults. During these visits, 6% (7/116) suffered technical difficulties, requiring a switch to phone or another video platform.

Post-visit, all patients with email (125/135, 93%) received a secure message containing a summary report. Of these patients, 38% (48/125) sent their rheumatologist at least one question through the secure messaging system. Our post-visit survey was completed by 38% (48/125) of patients, most of whom were satisfied with their virtual experience (Figure 1). When asked if they would like to have another appointment by video, 68% (32/48) said ‘yes’, 28% (13/48) were ‘not sure’, and 4% (2/48) declined. Within the study period, 38 patients had an in-person follow-up visit; 84% (32/38) maintained the same diagnosis from their video consult, while 16% (6/38) had a revised diagnosis.

Conclusion: We delivered high quality virtual care to new rheumatology patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our interventions reduced barriers to video consults and increased communication through digital channels. We believe that more patients could benefit from virtual care by improving access to video-enabled devices and providing pre-visit training.

Figure 1. Patient Experience Survey Results (n = 48).


Disclosure: S. Gottheil, None; J. Carson, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Gottheil S, Carson J. Rheum Service: Comprehensive Virtual Care During COVID-19 [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020; 72 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/rheum-service-comprehensive-virtual-care-during-covid-19/. Accessed March 7, 2021.
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
Save to PDF

« Back to ACR Convergence 2020

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/rheum-service-comprehensive-virtual-care-during-covid-19/

Advanced Search

Your Favorites

You can save and print a list of your favorite abstracts by clicking the “Favorite” button at the bottom of any abstract. View your favorites »

ACR Convergence: Where Rheumatology Meets. All Virtual. November 5-9.

ACR Pediatric Rheumatology Symposium 2020

© COPYRIGHT 2021 AMERICAN COLLEGE OF RHEUMATOLOGY

Wiley

  • Home
  • Meetings Archive
  • Advanced Search
  • Meeting Resource Center
  • Online Journal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Permissions Policies
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.