Impact of Longitudinal Virtual Primary Care on Diabetes Quality of Care

Lack of healthcare access to due to physician shortages is a significant driver of telemedicine expansion in rural areas. Telemedicine is effective for management of chronic conditions such as diabetes but its effectiveness in primary care settings is unknown.

To evaluate differences in diabetes care before and after implementation of a longitudinal virtual primary care program.

Propensity score-matched cohort study utilizing difference-in-differences analysis.

Patients with diabetes who received care at VA primary care clinics between January 2018 and December 2019 where the Virtual Integrated Multisite Patient Aligned Care Teams (V-IMPACT) program was implemented.

Patient participation in at least one V-IMPACT visit while usual care patients did not participate in V-IMPACT.

The primary outcome was change in hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) and secondary outcomes included change in the proportion of patients meeting diabetes quality indicators: blood pressure control, statin use, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ACEi/ARB) use, and annual microalbuminuria testing.

Our propensity-matched cohort included 9010 patients split evenly between those who participated in V-IMPACT and those who remained in usual in-person care. Among individuals with diabetes who participated in V-IMPACT, the change in mean HbA1C was - 0.055% (95% CI - 0.088 to - 0.022%) while those in usual care had a - 0.047% (95% CI - 0.080 to - 0.014%) change before and after program implementation. We observed a 5.1% (95% CI 2.4 to 7.7%) absolute increase in the proportion prescribed statins in the V-IMPACT group, a 5.3% (95% CI 2.5 to 8.2%) increase prescribed ACE/ARBs, and a 4.6% (95% 1.7 to 7.5%) increase in completed yearly microalbuminuria testing. V-IMPACT was not associated with a significant difference in the proportion with controlled blood pressure at < 140/90 or < 130/90 mmHg thresholds.

Quality of diabetes care delivered by a longitudinal virtual primary care model was similar if not better than traditional in-person care.