Table. HbA1c Laboratory Test Adherence Rates During COVID-19 in Patients With and Without Diabetes Compared by Encounter Type and Specialty Managementa.
| Telemedicine | Office | Telemedicine + office | Adherence rate differences (office vs telemedicine) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HbA1c ordered, No. | Adherent in 6 mo, No. (%) | HbA1c ordered, No. | Adherent in 6 mo, No. (%) | HbA1c ordered, No. | Adherent in 6 mo, No. (%) | Difference, % | P value | |
| All specialties | ||||||||
| With diabetesb | 4822 | 2904 (60.2) | 29 029 | 19 775 (68.1) | 33 851 | 22 679 (67.0) | 7.9 | <.001 |
| Without diabetes | 4028 | 2056 (51.0) | 25 843 | 13 278 (51.4) | 29 871 | 15 334 (51.3) | 0.4 | .64 |
| Total | 8850 | 4960 (56.0) | 54 872 | 33 053 (60.2) | 63 722 | 38 013 (59.7) | 4.2 | <.001 |
| Family medicine (only) | ||||||||
| With diabetesb | 2760 | 1675 (60.7) | 19 675 | 12 954 (65.8) | 22 435 | 14 629 (65.2) | 5.1 | <.001 |
| Without diabetes | 2141 | 1087 (50.8) | 17 332 | 8828 (50.9) | 19 473 | 9915 (50.9) | 0.1 | .93 |
| Total | 4901 | 2762 (56.4) | 37 007 | 21 782 (58.9) | 41 908 | 24 544 (58.6) | 2.5 | .01 |
| Other specialties (excluding FM) | ||||||||
| With diabetesb | 2062 | 1229 (59.6) | 9354 | 6821 (72.9) | 11 416 | 8050 (70.5) | 13.3 | <.001 |
| Without diabetes | 1887 | 969 (51.4) | 8511 | 4450 (52.3) | 10 398 | 5419 (52.1) | 1.8 | .16 |
| Total | 3949 | 2198 (55.7) | 17 865 | 11 271 (63.1) | 21 814 | 13 469 (61.7) | 7.4 | <.001 |
Abbreviations: FM, family medicine; HbA1c, hemoglobin A1c.
a
Subgroup analysis of HbA1c adherence rate differences between telemedicine vs office encounters calculated with “N − 1” χ2 tests (proportion differences with P value of .05).
b
Diabetes refers to type 2 diabetes. Electronic medical record data were selected for diabetes International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) code group: ICD-10-CM E11.