Health Care Visit Modality Among Older Adults: Telehealth and Subsequent Emergency Department Use
Introduction: Telehealth may address deficiencies in care provision for older adults, but potential downsides when used in place of in-person care are unclear. The use of subsequent care may be informative in a comprehensive evaluation of telehealth. Methods: We used administrative claims data from...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Mary Ann Liebert
2024-04-01
|
| Series: | Telemedicine Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/tmr.2024.0002 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850135091602259968 |
|---|---|
| author | Austin Knies Kosali Simon Emily Hayden |
| author_facet | Austin Knies Kosali Simon Emily Hayden |
| author_sort | Austin Knies |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Telehealth may address deficiencies in care provision for older adults, but potential downsides when used in place of in-person care are unclear. The use of subsequent care may be informative in a comprehensive evaluation of telehealth. Methods: We used administrative claims data from Optum’s de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart Database to explore telehealth use in outpatient care and subsequent emergency department (ED) utilization before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: We found evidence that telehealth use is associated with a higher likelihood of subsequent ED visits within six months relative to in-person care, but estimated differences vary across years and by age group. In 2021, estimated differences are statistically significant and increasing by age group. Conclusion: Telehealth may be associated with more frequent subsequent use of ED care compared with in-person care; however, more work is needed to understand healthcare quality differentials by visit modality and whether the results are causal. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-33f36ca2313d4fd9bf816fd677a893da |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2692-4366 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Mary Ann Liebert |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Telemedicine Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-33f36ca2313d4fd9bf816fd677a893da2025-08-20T02:31:31ZengMary Ann LiebertTelemedicine Reports2692-43662024-04-015115215710.1089/tmr.2024.0002Health Care Visit Modality Among Older Adults: Telehealth and Subsequent Emergency Department UseAustin Knies0Kosali Simon1Emily Hayden2Department of Economics, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.Introduction: Telehealth may address deficiencies in care provision for older adults, but potential downsides when used in place of in-person care are unclear. The use of subsequent care may be informative in a comprehensive evaluation of telehealth. Methods: We used administrative claims data from Optum’s de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart Database to explore telehealth use in outpatient care and subsequent emergency department (ED) utilization before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: We found evidence that telehealth use is associated with a higher likelihood of subsequent ED visits within six months relative to in-person care, but estimated differences vary across years and by age group. In 2021, estimated differences are statistically significant and increasing by age group. Conclusion: Telehealth may be associated with more frequent subsequent use of ED care compared with in-person care; however, more work is needed to understand healthcare quality differentials by visit modality and whether the results are causal.https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/tmr.2024.0002emergency departmenthealth outcomesolder adultstelehealthvisit modality |
| spellingShingle | Austin Knies Kosali Simon Emily Hayden Health Care Visit Modality Among Older Adults: Telehealth and Subsequent Emergency Department Use Telemedicine Reports emergency department health outcomes older adults telehealth visit modality |
| title | Health Care Visit Modality Among Older Adults: Telehealth and Subsequent Emergency Department Use |
| title_full | Health Care Visit Modality Among Older Adults: Telehealth and Subsequent Emergency Department Use |
| title_fullStr | Health Care Visit Modality Among Older Adults: Telehealth and Subsequent Emergency Department Use |
| title_full_unstemmed | Health Care Visit Modality Among Older Adults: Telehealth and Subsequent Emergency Department Use |
| title_short | Health Care Visit Modality Among Older Adults: Telehealth and Subsequent Emergency Department Use |
| title_sort | health care visit modality among older adults telehealth and subsequent emergency department use |
| topic | emergency department health outcomes older adults telehealth visit modality |
| url | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/tmr.2024.0002 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT austinknies healthcarevisitmodalityamongolderadultstelehealthandsubsequentemergencydepartmentuse AT kosalisimon healthcarevisitmodalityamongolderadultstelehealthandsubsequentemergencydepartmentuse AT emilyhayden healthcarevisitmodalityamongolderadultstelehealthandsubsequentemergencydepartmentuse |