Impact of a Remote Primary Care Telehealth Staffing Model on Primary Care Access in the Veterans Health Administration.

BACKGROUND: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) implemented the Clinical Resource Hub (CRH) program to fill staffing gaps in primary care (PC) clinics via telemedicine and maintain veterans' healthcare access. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate PC wait times before and after CRH implementation. DESIGN: Comparative interrupted time series analysis among a retrospective observational cohort of PC clinics who did and did not use CRH during pre-implementation (October 2018-September 2019) and post-implementation (October 2019-February 2020) periods. PARTICIPANTS: Clinics completing ≥10 CRH visits per month for 2 consecutive months and propensity matched control clinics. MAIN MEASURES: Two measures of patient access (i.e., established, and new patient wait times) and one measure of clinic capacity (i.e., third next available appointment) were assessed. Clinics using CRH were 1:1 propensity score matched across clinical and demographic characteristics. Comparative interrupted time series models used linear mixed effects regression with random clinic-level intercepts and triple interaction (i.e., CRH use, pre- vs. post-implementation, and time) for trend and point estimations. KEY RESULTS: PC clinics using CRH (N = 79) were matched to clinics not using CRH (N = 79). In the 12-month pre-implementation, third next available time increased in CRH clinics (0.16 days/month; 95% CI = [0.07, 0.25]), and decreased in the 5 months post-implementation (-0.58 days/month; 95% CI = [-0.90, -0.27]). Post-implementation third next available time also decreased in control clinics (-0.48 days/month; 95% CI = [-0.81, -0.17]). Comparative differences remained non-significant. There were no statistical differences in established or new patient wait times by CRH user status, CRH implementation, or over time. CONCLUSIONS: In a national VHA telemedicine program developed to provide gap coverage for PC clinics, no wait time differences were observed between clinics using and not using CRH services. This hub-and-spoke telemedicine service is an effective model to provide gap coverage while maintaining access. Further investigation of quality and long-term access remains necessary.

Healthcare Utilization Differences Among Primary Care Patients Using Telemedicine in the Veterans Health Administration: a Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic encouraged telemedicine expansion. Research regarding follow-up healthcare utilization and primary care (PC) telemedicine is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether healthcare utilization differed across PC populations using telemedicine. DESIGN: Retrospective observational cohort study using administrative data from veterans with minimally one PC visit before the COVID-19 pandemic (March 1, 2019-February 28, 2020) and after in-person restrictions were lifted (October 1, 2020-September 30, 2021). PARTICIPANTS: All veterans receiving VHA PC services during study period. MAIN MEASURES: Veterans' exposure to telemedicine was categorized as (1) in-person only, (2) telephone telemedicine (≥ 1 telephone visit with or without in-person visits), or (3) video telemedicine (≥ 1 video visit with or without telephone and/or in-person visits). Healthcare utilization 7 days after index PC visit were compared. Generalized estimating equations estimated odds ratios for telephone or video telemedicine versus in-person only use adjusted for patient characteristics (e.g., age, gender, race, residential rurality, ethnicity), area deprivation index, comorbidity risk, and intermediate PC visits within the follow-up window. KEY RESULTS: Over the 2-year study, 3.4 million veterans had 12.9 million PC visits, where 1.7 million (50.7%), 1.0 million (30.3%), and 649,936 (19.0%) veterans were categorized as in-person only, telephone telemedicine, or video telemedicine. Compared to in-person only users, video telemedicine users experienced higher rates per 1000 patients of emergent care (15.1 vs 11.2; p < 0.001) and inpatient admissions (4.2 vs 3.3; p < 0.001). In adjusted analyses, video versus in-person only users experienced greater odds of emergent care (OR [95% CI]:1.18 [1.16, 1.19]) inpatient (OR [95% CI]: 1.29 [1.25, 1.32]), and ambulatory care sensitive condition admission (OR [95% CI]: 1.30 [1.27, 1.34]). CONCLUSIONS: Telemedicine potentially in combination with in-person care was associated with higher follow-up healthcare utilization rates compared to in-person only PC. Factors contributing to utilization differences between groups need further evaluation.

Quantifying the Digital Divide: Associations of Broadband Internet with Tele-mental Health Access Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine quickly expanded. Broadband speeds may impact equitable access to video-based mental health (MH) services. OBJECTIVE: To identify access disparities in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) MH services based on broadband speed availability. DESIGN: Instrumental variable difference-in-differences study using administrative data to identify MH visits prior to (October 1, 2015-February 28, 2020) and after COVID-19 pandemic onset (March 1, 2020-December 31, 2021) among 1176 VHA MH clinics. The exposure is broadband download and upload speeds categorized as inadequate (download ≤25 Megabits per second - Mbps; upload ≤3 Mbps), adequate (download ≥25 Mbps and <100 Mbps; upload ≥5 Mbps and <100 Mbps), or optimal (download and upload ≥100/100 Mbps) based on data reported to the Federal Communications Commission at the census block and spatially merged to each veteran's residential address. PARTICIPANTS: All veterans receiving VHA MH services during study period. MAIN MEASURES: MH visits were categorized as in-person or virtual (i.e., telephone or video). By patient, MH visits were counted quarterly by broadband category. Poisson models with Huber-White robust errors clustered at the census block estimated the association between a patient's broadband speed category and quarterly MH visit count by visit type, adjusted for patient demographics, residential rurality, and area deprivation index. KEY RESULTS: Over the 6-year study period, 3,659,699 unique veterans were seen. Adjusted regression analyses estimated the change after pandemic onset versus pre-pandemic in patients' quarterly MH visit count; patients living in census blocks with optimal versus inadequate broadband increased video visit use (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.45-1.59; P < 0.001) and decreased in-person visits (IRR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.90-0.94; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study found patients with optimal versus inadequate broadband availability had more video-based and fewer in-person MH visits after pandemic onset, suggesting broadband availability is an important determinant of access-to-care during public health emergencies requiring remote care.

A Novel Gap Staffing Metric for Primary Care in the Veterans Health Administration and Implications for Rural and Urban Clinics.

Primary care providers (PCPs), including physicians and advanced practice providers, are the front line of medical care. Patient access must balance PCP availability and patient needs. This work develops a new PCP staffing metric using panel size and full-time equivalent data to determine whether a clinic is adequately staffed and describes variation by clinic rurality. Data were from the Veterans Health Administration, 2017-2021. Results describe the gap staffing metric, provide summary graphics, and compare the gap staffing between rural and urban clinics. This novel gap staffing metric can inform strategic clinic staffing in health care systems.

Association of Adequacy of Broadband Internet Service With Access to Primary Care in the Veterans Health Administration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Importance: Although telemedicine expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic and is widely available for primary care, required broadband internet speeds may limit access. Objective: To identify disparities in primary care access in the Veterans Health Administration based on the association between broadband availability and primary care visit modality. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used administrative data on veterans enrolled in Veterans Health Administration primary care to identify visits at 937 primary care clinics providing telemedicine and in-person clinical visits before the COVID-19 pandemic (October 1, 2016, to February 28, 2020) and after the onset of the pandemic (March 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021). Exposures: Federal Communications Commission-reported broadband availability was classified as inadequate (download speed, ≤25 MB/s; upload speed, ≤3 MB/s), adequate (download speed, ≥25 <100 MB/s; upload speed, ≥5 and <100 MB/s), or optimal (download and upload speeds, ≥100 MB/s) based on data reported at the census block by internet providers and was spatially merged to the latitude and longitude of each veteran's home address using US Census Bureau shapefiles. Main Outcomes and Measures: All visits were coded as in-person or virtual (ie, telephone or video) and counted for each patient, quarterly by visit modality. Poisson models with Huber-White robust errors clustered at the census block estimated the association between a patient's broadband availability category and the quarterly primary care visit count by visit type, adjusted for covariates. Results: In primary care, 6 995 545 veterans (91.8% men; mean [SD] age, 63.9 [17.2] years; 71.9% White; and 63.0% residing in an urban area) were seen. Adjusted regression analyses estimated the change after the onset of the pandemic vs before the pandemic in patients' quarterly primary care visit count; patients living in census blocks with optimal vs inadequate broadband had increased video visit use (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.33; 95% CI, 1.21-1.46; P < .001) and decreased in-person visits (IRR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.84-0.84; P < .001). The increase in the rate of video visits before vs after the onset of the pandemic was greatest among patients in the lowest Area Deprivation Index category (indicating least social disadvantage) with availability of optimal vs inadequate broadband (IRR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.42-2.09). Conclusions and Relevance: This cohort study found that patients with optimal vs inadequate broadband availability had more video-based primary care visits and fewer in-person primary care visits after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that broadband availability was associated with video-based telemedicine use. Future work should assess the association of telemedicine access with clinical outcomes.

Association between acute psychiatric bed availability in the Veterans Health Administration and veteran suicide risk: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Veteran suicides have increased despite mental health investments by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). OBJECTIVE: To examine relationships between suicide and acute inpatient psychiatric bed occupancy and other community, hospital and patient factors. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study using administrative and publicly available data for contextual community factors. The study sample included all veterans enrolled in VHA primary care in 2011-2016 associated with 111 VHA hospitals with acute inpatient psychiatric units. Acute psychiatric bed occupancy, as a measure of access to care, was the main exposure of interest and was categorised by quarter as per cent occupied using thresholds of ≤85%, 85.1%-90%, 90.1%-95% and >95%. Hospital-level analyses were conducted using generalised linear mixed models with random intercepts for hospital, modelling number of suicides by quarter with a negative binomial distribution. RESULTS: From 2011 to 2016, the national incidence of suicide among enrolled veterans increased from 39.7 to 41.6 per 100 000 person-years. VHA psychiatric bed occupancy decreased from a mean of 68.2% (IQR 56.5%-82.2%) to 65.4% (IQR 53.9%-79.9%). VHA hospitals with the highest occupancy (>95%) in a quarter compared with ≤85% had an adjusted incident rate ratio (IRR) for suicide of 1.10 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.19); no increased risk was observed for 85.1%-90% (IRR 0.96; 95% CI 0.89 to 1.03) or 90.1%-95% (IRR 0.96; 95% CI 0.89 to 1.04) compared with ≤85% occupancy. Of hospital and community variables, suicide risk was not associated with number of VHA or non-VHA psychiatric beds or amount spent on community mental health. Suicide risk increased by age categories, seasons, geographic regions and over time. CONCLUSIONS: High VHA hospital occupancy (>95%) was associated with a 10% increased suicide risk for veterans whereas absolute number of beds was not, suggesting occupancy is an important access measure. Future work should clarify optimal bed occupancy to meet acute psychiatric needs and ensure adequate bed distribution.

Factors Associated With Low-Value Cancer Screenings in the Veterans Health Administration.

Importance: Most clinical practice guidelines recommend stopping cancer screenings when risks exceed benefits, yet low-value screenings persist. The Veterans Health Administration focuses on improving the value and quality of care, using a patient-centered medical home model that may affect cancer screening behavior. Objective: To understand rates and factors associated with outpatient low-value cancer screenings. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study assessed the receipt of low-value cancer screening and associated factors among 5 993 010 veterans. Four measures of low-value cancer screening defined by validated recommendations of practices to avoid were constructed using administrative data. Patients with cancer screenings in 2017 at Veterans Health Administration primary care clinics were included. Excluded patients had recent symptoms or historic high-risk diagnoses that may affect test appropriateness (eg, melena preceding colonoscopy). Data were analyzed from December 23, 2019, to June 21, 2021. Exposures: Receipt of cancer screening test. Main Outcomes and Measures: Low-value screenings were defined as occurring for average-risk patients outside of guideline-recommended ages or if the 1-year mortality risk estimated using a previously validated score was at least 50%. Factors evaluated in multivariable regression models included patient, clinician, and clinic characteristics and patient-centered medical home domain performance for team-based care, access, and continuity previously developed from administrative and survey data. Results: Of 5 993 010 veterans (mean [SD] age, 63.1 [16.8] years; 5 496 976 men [91.7%]; 1 027 836 non-Hispanic Black [17.2%] and 4 539 341 non-Hispanic White [75.7%] race and ethnicity) enrolled in primary care, 903 612 of 4 647 479 men of average risk (19.4%) underwent prostate cancer screening; 299 765 of 5 770 622 patients of average risk (5.2%) underwent colorectal cancer screening; 21 930 of 469 045 women of average risk (4.7%) underwent breast cancer screening; and 65 511 of 458 086 women of average risk (14.3%) underwent cervical cancer screening. Of patients screened, low-value testing was rare for 3 cancers, with receipt of a low-value test in 633 of 21 930 of women screened for breast cancer (2.9%), 630 of 65 511 of women screened for cervical cancer (1.0%), and 6790 of 299 765 of patients screened for colorectal cancer (2.3%). However, 350 705 of 4 647 479 of screened men (7.5%) received a low-value prostate cancer test. Patient race and ethnicity, sociodemographic factors, and illness burden were significantly associated with likelihood of receipt of low-value tests among screened patients. No single patient-, clinician-, or clinic-level factor explained the receipt of a low-value test across cancer screening cohorts. Conclusions and Relevance: This large cohort study found that low-value breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screenings were rare in the Veterans Health Administration, but more than one-third of patients screened for prostate cancer were tested outside of clinical practice guidelines. Guideline-discordant care has quality implications and is not consistently explained by associated multilevel factors.

Home-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation: EXPERIENCE FROM THE VETERANS AFFAIRS.

PURPOSE: The conceptual utility of home-based cardiac rehabilitation (HBCR) is widely acknowledged. However, data substantiating its effectiveness and safety are limited. This study evaluated effectiveness and safety of the Veterans Affairs (VA) national HBCR program. METHODS: Veterans completed a 12-wk HBCR program over 18 mo at 25 geographically dispersed VA hospitals. Pre- to post-changes were compared using paired t tests. Patient satisfaction and adverse events were also summarized descriptively. RESULTS: Of the 923 Veterans with a mean age of 67.3 ± 10.6 yr enrolled in the HBCR program, 572 (62%) completed it. Findings included significant improvements in exercise capacity (6-min walk test distance: 355 vs 398 m; P < .05; Duke Activity Status Index: 27.1 vs 33.5; P < .05; self-reported steps/d: 3150 vs 4166; P < .05); depression measured by Patient Health Questionnaire (6.4 vs 4.9; P < .0001); cardiac self-efficacy (33.1 vs 39.2; P < .0001); body mass index (31.5 vs 31.1 kg/m2; P = .0001); and eating habits measured by Rate Your Plate, Heart (47.2 vs 51.1; P < .05). No safety issues were related to HBCR participation. Participants were highly satisfied. CONCLUSIONS: The VA HBCR program demonstrates strong evidence of effectiveness and safety to a wide range of patients, including those with high clinical complexity and risk. HBCR provides an adjunct to site-based programs and access to cardiac rehabilitation. Additional research is needed to assess long-term effects, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability of the model.

Growth of electronic consultations in the Veterans Health Administration.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the growth and variation of electronic consultation, or e-consult, use in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) across regions and specialties. STUDY DESIGN: Observational cohort study using administrative data of all veterans who received an e-consult for 41 specialties across 1269 VHA medical centers and associated clinical sites from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2018. METHODS: Assessments included (1) the number and characteristics of all e-consults, (2) growth of e-consult use, (3) e-consults as a proportion of all consults by region and by specific specialty, (4) need for an in-person visit with the same specialty within 12 months after an e-consult, and (5) potential miles of driving saved for patients and mileage reimbursement costs avoided for VHA due to e-consult use. RESULTS: Over the 7-year study period, VHA providers completed 3,117,998 e-consults (5.5% of all specialty consults). e-Consults increased by 309% for all specialties. By 2018, for 16 of 41 specialties, e-consults accounted for greater than 10% of all consults. Overall, 21.5% of e-consults resulted in an in-person visit with the same specialty within 12 months. On average, each e-consult resulted in approximately 84.3 (SD, 89.9; interquartile range, 25.1-115.0) miles in driving saved, equating to potential driving reimbursement savings of $46 million. CONCLUSIONS: Use of e-consults in the VHA grew substantially between 2012 and 2018, with variability across specialties. In-person follow-up after an e-consult was low, suggesting that e-consults may substitute for in-person visits and reduce considerable patient travel burden.

Treatment Patterns and Survival of Elderly Patients With Breast Cancer Brain Metastases.

OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to analyze treatment patterns of elderly patients with breast cancer brain metastases (BCBM), evaluate characteristics associated with treatment selection, and to analyze trends in overall survival (OS) over time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included women with BCBM reported to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare Program from 1992 to 2012. Treatments were recorded from Medicare claims from the date of brain metastases diagnosis until 60 days after. Treatments included resection, radiation, and chemotherapy. Cochran-Armitage tests were used for analysis of treatment patterns. Multinomial logistic regression was applied to determine factors associated with treatment selection. Cox regression modelled OS trends within each treatment modality across time. RESULTS: Among 5969 patients included, treatment rates increased from 50% in 1992 to 64.1% in 2012 (P<0.01). Therapy combining radiation, resection, and/or chemotherapy also increased from 8.8% to 18% over the same period (P<0.01). Combined therapy was significantly more likely among patients with extracranial metastases, those with estrogen-negative tumors, younger age at diagnosis, no comorbidities and more recently diagnosed brain metastases. OS improved over time for patients who received a combination of ≥2 treatments (hazard ratio, 0.89 per every 5 more recent diagnosis years; P<0.05). Older patients, those with extracranial metastases, or estrogen/progesterone-negative tumors showed significantly shorter OS. CONCLUSIONS: We observed substantial changes in treatment patterns and OS over time in patients with BCBM. We identified several factors associated with specific treatment use. Patients who underwent a combination of ≥2 treatments experienced a significant improvement in OS over time.

Incidence of hematologic malignancy and cause-specific mortality in the Women's Health Initiative randomized controlled trial of calcium and vitamin D supplementation.

BACKGROUND: Prior evidence of a possible link between vitamin D status and hematologic malignancy (HM) in humans comes from observational studies, leaving unresolved the question of whether a true causal relationship exists. METHODS: The authors performed a secondary analysis of data from the Women's Health Initiative Calcium/Vitamin D (CaD) trial, a large randomized controlled trial of CaD supplementation compared with placebo in older women. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards survival analysis methods were used to evaluate the relationship between treatment assignment and 1) incident HM and 2) HM-specific mortality over 10 years following randomization. HMs were classified by cell type (lymphoid, myeloid, or plasma cell) and analyzed as distinct endpoints in secondary analyses. RESULTS: A total of 34,763 Women's Health Initiative CaD trial participants (median age, 63 years) had complete baseline covariate data and were eligible for analysis. Women assigned to CaD supplementation had a significantly lower risk of incident HM (hazard ratio [HR], 0.80; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.65-0.99) but not HM-specific mortality (HR, 0.77 [95% CI, 0.53-1.11] for the entire cohort; and HR, 1.03 [95% CI, 0.70-1.51] among incident HM cases after diagnosis). In secondary analyses, protective associations were found to be most robust for lymphoid malignancies, with HRs of 0.77 (95% CI, 0.59-1.01) and 0.46 (95% CI, 0.24-0.89), respectively, for cancer incidence and mortality in those assigned to CaD supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: The current post hoc analysis of data from a large and well-executed randomized controlled trial demonstrates a protective association between modest CaD supplementation and HM risk in older women. Additional research concerning the relationship between vitamin D and HM is warranted. Cancer 2017;123:4168-4177. © 2017 American Cancer Society.