Employer-Sponsored Health Centers Provide Access to Integrated Care via a Hybrid of Virtual and In-Person Visits
Background: Since the explosion of telemedicine resulting from the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, employers have been particularly interested in virtual primary care as a novel means of expanding primary care services. The purpose of this study is to describe a model of integrated care delivered both in-person...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Mary Ann Liebert
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Telemedicine Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/TMR.2021.0027 |
| _version_ | 1797346067391447040 |
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| author | Divya K. Madhusudhan Sharon A. Watts Daniel J. Lord Fiona Ding David C. Lawrence Austin Sheldon James Leonard Dena M. Bravata |
| author_facet | Divya K. Madhusudhan Sharon A. Watts Daniel J. Lord Fiona Ding David C. Lawrence Austin Sheldon James Leonard Dena M. Bravata |
| author_sort | Divya K. Madhusudhan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Since the explosion of telemedicine resulting from the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, employers have been particularly interested in virtual primary care as a novel means of expanding primary care services. The purpose of this study is to describe a model of integrated care delivered both in-person and virtually at employer-sponsored health centers nationwide. The key outcomes of this analysis were the proportion of all care delivered in-person and virtually by clinical discipline, the types of care and member satisfaction for care delivered in-person and virtually, and a description of the use of multiple clinical disciplines by the employee population.
Methods: Retrospective observational study comparing health services utilization of primary care, behavioral health, and physical medicine services both in-person and virtually in employer-sponsored clinics between January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021.
Results: Of the 331,967 visits with employer-sponsored health center staff, 63% were in-person and 37% were delivered virtually. Most visits were for primary care services (59.5%), with physical medicine visits and behavioral health visits accounting for 25.1% and 15.4%, respectively. Whereas the preponderance of behavioral health visits were virtual visits (72.5%), less than a quarter (18.2%) of physical medicine visits were delivered virtually. 19.6% of patients were seen by more than two clinical disciplines and 2.6% were seen by three different disciplines. Overall, patients were highly likely to recommend the health center across both modalities (Net Promoter Score 89.1 for in-person care and 88.4 for virtual care).
Discussion: The future of employer-sponsored integrated team-based care may require a hybrid approach that can lean heavily on virtual visits but requires the infrastructure necessary for in-person care. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:26:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-109af8f5dbe14611b5ef7bcbdcb1e82f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2692-4366 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:26:26Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | Mary Ann Liebert |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Telemedicine Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-109af8f5dbe14611b5ef7bcbdcb1e82f2024-01-26T05:17:21ZengMary Ann LiebertTelemedicine Reports2692-43662021-11-012124725710.1089/TMR.2021.0027Employer-Sponsored Health Centers Provide Access to Integrated Care via a Hybrid of Virtual and In-Person VisitsDivya K. MadhusudhanSharon A. WattsDaniel J. LordFiona DingDavid C. LawrenceAustin SheldonJames LeonardDena M. BravataBackground: Since the explosion of telemedicine resulting from the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, employers have been particularly interested in virtual primary care as a novel means of expanding primary care services. The purpose of this study is to describe a model of integrated care delivered both in-person and virtually at employer-sponsored health centers nationwide. The key outcomes of this analysis were the proportion of all care delivered in-person and virtually by clinical discipline, the types of care and member satisfaction for care delivered in-person and virtually, and a description of the use of multiple clinical disciplines by the employee population. Methods: Retrospective observational study comparing health services utilization of primary care, behavioral health, and physical medicine services both in-person and virtually in employer-sponsored clinics between January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. Results: Of the 331,967 visits with employer-sponsored health center staff, 63% were in-person and 37% were delivered virtually. Most visits were for primary care services (59.5%), with physical medicine visits and behavioral health visits accounting for 25.1% and 15.4%, respectively. Whereas the preponderance of behavioral health visits were virtual visits (72.5%), less than a quarter (18.2%) of physical medicine visits were delivered virtually. 19.6% of patients were seen by more than two clinical disciplines and 2.6% were seen by three different disciplines. Overall, patients were highly likely to recommend the health center across both modalities (Net Promoter Score 89.1 for in-person care and 88.4 for virtual care). Discussion: The future of employer-sponsored integrated team-based care may require a hybrid approach that can lean heavily on virtual visits but requires the infrastructure necessary for in-person care.https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/TMR.2021.0027team-based caretelemedicinetelehealthvirtual primary carephysical medicinebehavioral health |
| spellingShingle | Divya K. Madhusudhan Sharon A. Watts Daniel J. Lord Fiona Ding David C. Lawrence Austin Sheldon James Leonard Dena M. Bravata Employer-Sponsored Health Centers Provide Access to Integrated Care via a Hybrid of Virtual and In-Person Visits Telemedicine Reports team-based care telemedicine telehealth virtual primary care physical medicine behavioral health |
| title | Employer-Sponsored Health Centers Provide Access to Integrated Care via a Hybrid of Virtual and In-Person Visits |
| title_full | Employer-Sponsored Health Centers Provide Access to Integrated Care via a Hybrid of Virtual and In-Person Visits |
| title_fullStr | Employer-Sponsored Health Centers Provide Access to Integrated Care via a Hybrid of Virtual and In-Person Visits |
| title_full_unstemmed | Employer-Sponsored Health Centers Provide Access to Integrated Care via a Hybrid of Virtual and In-Person Visits |
| title_short | Employer-Sponsored Health Centers Provide Access to Integrated Care via a Hybrid of Virtual and In-Person Visits |
| title_sort | employer sponsored health centers provide access to integrated care via a hybrid of virtual and in person visits |
| topic | team-based care telemedicine telehealth virtual primary care physical medicine behavioral health |
| url | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/TMR.2021.0027 |
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