Virtual Care Provides Similar Outcomes for Patients with Diabetes | ASHP Midyear
Research also showed that the percentage of no-show appointments was slightly higher in a pre-virtual group compared to a post-virtual group.
Virtual care in an ambulatory care clinical pharmacy diabetes clinic provided similar outcomes for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and resulted in fewer no-show appointments compared to in-person visits, according to new research presented at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2024 Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition, held December 8 to 12 in New Orleans, Louisiana.1
Virtual Care Provides Similar Outcomes for Patients with Diabetes | ASHP Midyear / Jeff Bergen - stock.adobe.com
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shift towards virtual care due to public health safety measures and the need to reduce the spread of infection. Virtual care provided the opportunity for patients to continue seeing health care professionals while minimizing their risk of contracting the novel disease.2 As the public health crisis waned, many patients continued to take advantage of virtual care.
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Investigators from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Atrius Health conducted a study to evaluate the impact of the addition of virtual care on HgbA1c levels in patients with T2D seen by clinical pharmacists under collaborative drug therapy management (CDTM). Data for the study were gathered from electronic medical records of patients seen in clinical pharmacy ambulatory care clinics from January 2018 to December 2019 or January 2022 to December 2023.
The study cohort included 528 adult patients, of which 290 were a pre-virtual group and 238 were in a post-virtual group. Patients were included if they were seen in a care clinic between the specified dates, had T2D, and had documented pre- and post-HgbA1c lab results. The primary outcome was change in HgbA1c from baseline in patients discharged from clinics when only in-person and telephone appointments were offered compared to those discharged after the implementation of a hybrid visit model.
The study found there was a statistically significant reduction in the mean A1c change for each group, with -1.5 for the pre-virtual group and -1.7 for the post-virtual group. In comparing the 2 groups, the A1c change in the post-virtual group was non-superior to the A1c change in the pre-virtual group. Additionally, the mean number of visits was similar between the 2 groups and the percentage of no-show appointments was slightly higher in the pre-virtual group.
“The addition of virtual care provided similar outcomes with fewer no-show appointments when compared to traditional in-office appointments; demonstrating the importance of ambulatory care pharmacists to continue to offer virtual visit types despite being in this post-pandemic era,” the authors concluded.
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Follow along with our coverage of the 2024 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition here.
References
1. Burke J, Zaiken K, Hawkins D, et al. Impact of the Addition of Virtual Care in Ambulatory Care Clinical Pharmacy Diabetes Clinics on HgbA1c. Presented at: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2024 Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition; December 8-12, 2024; New Orleans, LA. Poster 8-008.
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