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Virtual Visits at Brigham and Women's Hospital

Not Applicable
Terminated
Conditions
Diabetes Mellitus
Stroke
BPH
Heart Failure
Hypertension
Hyperlipidemia
Interventions
Other: Virtual Visit
Registration Number
NCT03592355
Lead Sponsor
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Brief Summary

Clinicians slated for virtual visit rollout will be randomized (stratified by department) to either receive immediate virtual visit on-boarding (intervention arm) or delayed (3-months later) virtual visit on-boarding (control arm). The investigators plan to enroll no more than 200 clinicians.

Any clinician in a department selected by the Brigham Health Virtual Care team for access to virtual visits is eligible, unless s/he saw less than 20 patients monthly over the last 6 months.

The Brigham Health Virtual Care team will onboard all clinicians and provide virtual visit support as per their usual protocol. The primary study endpoint is third-available appointment, a well-adopted measure of access. Other secondary endpoints revolve around continuity, efficiency, utilization, safety, cost, and patient experience.

Detailed Description

If enrolled in the intervention arm, the following steps will occur:

* The clinician will receive the intervention arm follow-up email ("Follow-up Email - Intervention" in the Appendix).

* The Brigham Health Virtual Care team will work with the clinician toward immediate on-boarding (software training, hardware setup, technical support) as per their usual process.

* The clinician will schedule virtual visits as s/he and/or her/his department see fit. Virtual visits occur on an already-in-use Partners- and Brigham-approved video platform (attached).

If enrolled in the control arm, the following steps will occur:

* The clinician will receive the control arm follow-up email ("Follow-up Email - Control" in the Appendix).

* Three months from the time of the follow-up email, the Brigham Health Virtual Care team will work with the clinician toward immediate on-boarding (software training, hardware setup, technical support) as per their usual process.

* The clinician will schedule virtual visits as s/he and/or her/his department see fit. Virtual visits occur on an already-in-use Partners- and Brigham-approved video platform (attached).

The investigators plan to follow patients of both clinician cohorts for a total of 6-months. The investigators will perform retrospective review of patient electronic health records and patients will receive a redcap survey (attached), an evaluation mechanism already employed by the Virtual Care team.

Again, aside from the initial randomization and retrospective data collection and analysis, all of the above would have occurred irrespective of this research protocol.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
TERMINATED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
77
Inclusion Criteria
  • Clinician whose department is chosen for virtual visit rollout
Exclusion Criteria
  • Clinician who saw on average fewer than 20 patients monthly over the past 6 months
  • Clinician who opts out of virtual visits

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
InterventionVirtual VisitIf enrolled in the intervention arm, the following steps will occur: * The Brigham Health Virtual Care team will work with the clinician toward immediate on-boarding (software training, hardware setup, technical support) as per their usual process. * The clinician will schedule virtual visits as s/he and/or her/his department see fit. Virtual visits occur on an already-in-use Partners- and Brigham-approved video platform.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Days until third available appointmentThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Number of days until the third available routine appointment, obtained at 12 o'clock each Friday (embargoed appointments not included). The mean of all of the weeks is a clinician's average number of days until the third available routine appointment.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Number of inpatient admissionsThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Number of inpatient admissions

Frequency of visits with the usual provider of careThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Ratio of the number of visits to the most frequently seen provider to the total number of visits to all providers obtained each month. The mean of all of the months is a clinician's ratio.

Visit timeThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

In-person: face time with patient per pertinent EHR fields, obtained each week. The mean of all of the weeks is a clinician's visit time.

Virtual: enter virtual waiting room to video stops, obtained each week. The mean of all of the weeks is a clinician's visit time.

Clinician volume per dayThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Patients seen per day, all calculated at the end of the study.

Number of labs orderedThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Number of laboratory studies ordered

Days until first available appointmentThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Number of days until the next available routine appointment, obtained at 12 o'clock each Friday (embargoed appointments not included). The mean of all of the weeks is a clinician's average number of days until the next available routine appointment.

Clinician volume per hourThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Patients seen per hour, calculated at the end of the study.

Number of specialist visitsThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Number of specialist visits

Continuity of care indexThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

The number of visits to each individual physician divided by the total number of visits the patient had overall obtained each month. The mean of all of the months is the continuity of care index

Clinician volume per 6 monthsThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Patients seen per 6 months, all calculated at the end of the study.

Patient ExperienceSent electronically within 1 week of the in-person or virtual visit

Brigham Health Virtual Care team survey sent to participating patients

Future capacity: percentage of open appointment slotsThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Percentage of appointment slots that are open and available for booking patients over the next four weeks, obtained at 12 o'clock each Friday (embargoed appointments not included). The mean of all of the weeks is a clinician's future capacity.

Slot utilizationThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Ratio of used slots to total slots, obtained each week. The mean of all of the weeks is a clinician's slot utilization.

Number of emergency department visitsThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Number of emergency department visits

Number of medications prescribedThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Number of medications prescribed

No show rateThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Ratio of the number of no-show visits to total visit slots obtained each week. The mean of all of the weeks is a clinician's no show rate.

Clinician volume per monthThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Patients seen per month, all calculated at the end of the study.

Number of primary care visitsThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Number of primary care visits

Number of imaging studiesThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Number of imaging studies ordered

Revenue from virtual or in-person visitThrough study completion, an average of 6 months

Revenue garnered by an individual clinician for her/his clinical activity, calculated per hour and per 6 months (denominator: total clinical hours worked).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Brigham and Women's Hospital

🇺🇸

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

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