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Achieving Chronic Care equiTy by leVeraging the Telehealth Ecosystem

Not Applicable
Recruiting
Conditions
Diabetes
Interventions
Other: Digital Health Coaching (Patient-Level Intervention)
Other: Practice Facilitation (Clinic-Level Intervention)
Registration Number
NCT06598436
Lead Sponsor
University of California, San Francisco
Brief Summary

This study examines the impact of a multi-level intervention aiming to improve telehealth access for low-income patients managing chronic health conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes. The multi-level intervention includes clinic-level practice facilitation and patient-level digital health coaching.

Detailed Description

ACCTIVATE is a multi-level intervention (including practice facilitation and patient digital coaching) that aims to tackle patient-level and clinic-level barriers to increase the equitable use of telehealth tools for chronic disease management. Direct patient support via digital coaching can meet the needs of patients who have been left behind in the digital divide. For those with reduced digital literacy and low access to smartphones and broadband, this resource can increase their confidence in using digital technologies and engaging in virtual care. Additionally, primary care clinic support through practice facilitation can empower team members to address racial/ethnic disparities in telehealth use through equitable screening/offering of digital technologies, resources to prepare patients for virtual chronic disease management, and consistent review of telehealth equity data. The investigators hypothesize that this multi-level intervention will improve patient control of chronic health conditions (i.e., glycosylated hemoglobin) as well as digital literacy, while also increasing patient and clinician engagement with patient portals, telehealth video visits and remote monitoring.

Aim 1: Assess the impact of the multi-level intervention on clinical outcomes at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. Our working hypotheses are that patients randomized to receive digital coaching (vs. usual care) will experience a greater change in mean glycosylated hemoglobin A1C, both overall and among Black and Latinx patients. Clinics randomized to practice facilitation (vs. usual care) will experience a greater clinic-level change in mean glycosylated hemoglobin A1C, both overall and among their Black and Latinx populations.

Aim 2: Assess the impact of the multi-level intervention on process outcomes related to digital literacy, engagement in care, and health IT utilization at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. The investigators hypothesize that randomization to digital coaching (vs. usual care) will increase patient portal use, digital literacy, and visit show rate, overall and among Black and Latinx patients. Randomization to practice facilitation (vs. usual care) will increase clinic-level use of telehealth video visits and patient-portal communication, overall and with Black and Latinx patients.

Aim 3: Conduct a mixed methods evaluation of intervention implementation outcomes. Quantitative engagement data, direct observations of intervention sessions, and stakeholder interviews will characterize implementation outcomes and factors necessary to integrate the multi-level intervention into clinical operations, applying the RE-AIM implementation science framework.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
600
Inclusion Criteria
  • ≥ 18 years of age
  • English or Spanish-Speaking
  • Have diabetes with a last A1C ≥ 8.0%
  • At least 1 visit at a participating SFHN primary care site in the last 24 months
Exclusion Criteria
  • Higher than average digital literacy, defined as an Digital Healthcare Literacy Scale (DHLS) score greater than 10, as determined prior to the baseline study visit; these patients may not benefit from a digital coaching intervention.
  • Presence of co-morbid conditions that would make it inappropriate to focus on telehealth chronic disease management. Conditions may include: end-stage or terminal condition with limited life expectancy and severe mental illness.
  • Lack of any working phone number
  • Visual or hearing impairment that precludes use of telehealth for chronic disease management
  • Cognitive impairment defined by the inability to restate study goals during the consent process
  • Pregnant

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
FACTORIAL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Patient Intervention + Clinic InterventionDigital Health Coaching (Patient-Level Intervention)Digital coach navigator + Clinic Intervention
Patient Intervention + Clinic InterventionPractice Facilitation (Clinic-Level Intervention)Digital coach navigator + Clinic Intervention
Patient Intervention + Clinic Usual CareDigital Health Coaching (Patient-Level Intervention)Digital coach navigator + Clinic Usual Care
Patient Usual Care + Clinic InterventionPractice Facilitation (Clinic-Level Intervention)Usual Care (Patient-Level) + Clinic Intervention
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in Patient-Level Hemoglobin A1CBaseline, month 3, month 6, and month 12

Change in A1C (%) will be determined by subtracting month 3, 6, and 12 A1C values from baseline A1C

Change in Patient Portal UseBaseline, month 3, month 6, and month 12

The average number of patient portal log-ins per month will be obtained from the EHR

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in Patient-Level urine microalbuminuria (mg/g) among individuals with hypertension and/or diabetesBaseline, month 3, month 6, month 12

Urine microalbuminuria (mg/g) will be obtained from the electronic health record.

Change in Clinic-Wide Urine Albumin-Creatinine Ratio UACR (mg/g) among individuals with hypertension and/or diabetes.Baseline, month 3, month 6, month 12, and month 24

Microalbuminuria values among individuals with hypertension and/or diabetes will be obtained from the EHR.

Digital LiteracyBaseline, month 3, month 6, and month 12

Digital literacy will be ascertained with the Digital Healthcare Literacy Scale (DHLS). The DHLS is an 3-item scale that uses a 5-point Likert scale. Scores range from 0 to 12, with higher scores indicating higher digital health care literacy.

Ongoing digital literacy will be ascertained with the Digital Equity Screening Tool Scale (DEST). The DEST is an 5-item scale that uses a 5-point Likert scale.

Medication AdherenceBaseline, month 3, month 6, and month 12

Medication adherence will be ascertained by the eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). The scales score ranges from 0 to 8, with higher scores indicating greater medication adherence.

High adherence: A score of 8 Medium adherence: A score of 6-8 Low adherence: A score of 6 and below.

Patient Activation Measure (PAM)Baseline, month 3, month 6, and month 12

Patient activation will be measured by the Patient Activation Measure (PAM). The PAM-13 consists of 13 items on a 4-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, 4 = strongly agree, 0 = undecided). Item scores are summed to a raw score resulting in theoretical values between 13 and 52, with higher scores indicating higher patient activation.

Change in Clinic-Wide Blood Pressure (mmHg)Baseline, month 3, month 6, month 12, and month 24

BP readings will be obtained from the EHR

Change in Clinic-Wide Hemoglobin A1C (average)Baseline, month 3, month 6, month 12, and month 24

Hemoglobin A1C readings will be obtained from the EHR

Change in Patient-Level Systolic BP (mmHg)Baseline, month 3, month 6, month 12

Changes in mean SBP from baseline, using values from the electronic health record.

Proportion of Primary care Clinic Visits Completed by VideoBaseline, month 3, month 6, month 12 and month 24

This proportion will be ascertained from the electronic health record.

Number of Patient Portal Communications Completed by Primary Care Team MembersBaseline, month 3, month 6, month 12, and month 24

The number of patient portal communications will be ascertained from the EHR

Clinic-level Visit Show RatesBaseline, month 3, month 6, month 12, and month 24

Visit show rates for in-person, phone, or telehealth video as obtained from the EHR

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG) & SF Department of Public Health (DPH)

🇺🇸

San Francisco, California, United States

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