Table 6. Clinical outcomes.
| Title | Research design | Time of study | Number of visits/patients | Patient cohort | Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outpatient Management of Heart Failure During the COVID-19 Pandemic After Adoption of a Telehealth Model | Retrospective propensity-matched analysis | 3/20–6/20 | 8,263 patients with heart failure; 15,421 clinic visits | Large Midwestern health care system of 16 cardiology clinics, 16 EDs, and 12 hospitals | • Fewer ED visits after the telehealth visits than after in-person visits at both 30 days (3.0% vs. 4.4%; P=0.001) and 90 days (8.5% vs. 11.2%; P<0.001) |
| • Fewer hospital admissions after telehealth visits than after in-person visits at 30 days (4.6% vs. 7.7%; P<0.001) and 90 days (12.9% vs. 16.6%; P<0.001) | |||||
| • No difference in mortality at 30 days (0.8% vs. 0.7%; P=0.465) or 90 days (2.9% vs. 2.4%; P=0.133) | |||||
| Comparison of Patient Satisfaction and Safety Outcomes for Postoperative Telemedicine vs Face-to-Face Visits in Urology: Results of the Randomized Evaluation and Metrics Observing Telemedicine Efficacy (REMOTE) Trial | Prospective, randomized controlled trial | 6/21–12/21 | 165 patients undergoing urologic surgery | Surgical patients, single institution | • Of patients in the telehealth arm, 4 (5.9%) had video visits and 64 (94.1%) had telephone visits |
| • Rates of readmission were similar between the telehealth arm (8.8%) and the in-person arm (8.3%; P=0.92) | |||||
| • No patients in the telehealth arm were requested for an in-person follow-up by their surgeon after their telehealth visit | |||||
| Clinical Outcomes and Hospital Utilization Among Patients Undergoing Bariatric Surgery With Telemedicine Preoperative Care | Retrospective, cohort study | 7/20–12/21 | 257 bariatric surgery patients; 925 historical control patients | Bariatric surgery patients undergoing preoperative evaluation; historical cohort patients between 2018 and 2019 | • Video telehealth pre-operative visits for bariatric surgery were non-inferior compared to in-person ones in terms of clinical outcomes |
| • Major adverse events within 30 days: control (3.8%) vs. telehealth 1.6% (95% CI: 0.4% to 3.9%; P=0.001) | |||||
| • Major adverse events between 31 and 60 days: control (2.2%) vs. telehealth (1.6%; P<0.001) | |||||
| • Frequency of emergency room visits within 30 days: control (18.8%) vs. telehealth (17.9%; P=0.03) | |||||
| • Hospital readmissions within 30 days: control (10.1%) vs. telehealth (6.6%; P=0.02) |
ED, emergency department; CI, confidence interval.