Use of Real Time Clinical Video Telehealth to Home by primary care providers within the Veterans Health Administration during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: variability across VA stations and with time.

OBJECTIVE

Determine the extent to which use of Clinical Video Telehealth to Home (VT2H) for primary care licensed independent practitioner visits (PCLIPVs) varied over time and across the Veterans Health Administration (VA) during the first 18 months of the COVID pandemic, and if there was an association between VT2H usage and VA station characteristics.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

All outpatient encounters ( = 12 143 456) for Veterans ( = 4 373 638) that had VA PCLIPVs during the period of observation were categorized as conducted by VT2H, in-person, or telephone. The change over time in the percentage of total PCLIPVs conducted by VT2H was plotted and associations between VA station characteristics and VT2H usage were analyzed using simple statistics and negative binomial regression.

RESULTS

Between March 2020 and mid-August 2020, VT2H visits increased from <2% to 13% of all VA PCLIPVs. However, VT2H usage varied substantively by VA station and declined system-wide to <9% of PCLIPVs by July 2021. VA stations that serve a greater proportion of rural Veterans were found less likely to use VT2H.

DISCUSSION

The VA was successful in increasing the use of VT2H for PCLIPVs during the first phase of the COVID pandemic. However, VT2H usage varied by VA station and over time. Beyond rurality, it is unknown what station characteristics may be responsible for the variance in VT2H use.

CONCLUSION

Future investigation is warranted to identify the unique practices employed by VA stations that were most successful in using VT2H for PCLIPVs and whether they can be effectively disseminated to other stations.