Telemedicine Trends and Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic-World Trade Center Health Program, 2020-2021.

Publisher: SAGE Publications Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 9716844 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1468-2877 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00333549 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Public Health Rep Subsets: In Process; MEDLINE

Publication: Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE Publications
Original Publication: Hyattsville, Md. : Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Health Resources Administration ; Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., distributor,

The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program, a limited federal health care program for eligible people exposed to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, expanded telemedicine services during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021). We analyzed service use trends from January 2020 through December 2021 to describe how the program implemented telemedicine services. About three-quarters (75%) of telemedicine visits were for mental health-related services. In the second quarter of 2020 (April-June), the number of telemedicine visits per 1000 members (n = 367) increased, exceeding in-person visits (n = 152) by 1.4-fold. The number of telemedicine visits per 1000 members decreased gradually during the rest of the study period but still represented 38% of total visits by the end of 2021. Changes in telemedicine visits were offset by comparable changes for in-person visits, such that the rate of total visits was essentially constant during the study period. Multivariate logistic regression models showed differences in telemedicine visit rates by member type and by demographic characteristics. Survivor members (vs responder members), those self-identified as non-Hispanic Other races (vs non-Hispanic White), those with preferred language not English (vs preferred language English), and those not living in the New York metropolitan area (vs living in the New York metropolitan area) were less likely to use telemedicine. Implementing telemedicine services in the WTC Health Program during the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of extensive collaboration among partners, the capacity to rapidly develop necessary technical guidance, and the flexibility to address frequent regulatory guidance updates in a timely fashion. These lessons learned may guide similar health care providers posed with time-sensitive disruptions of in-person services.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Apr;37(5):1191-1197. (PMID: 35112280)
JAMA Intern Med. 2021 Mar 1;181(3):388-391. (PMID: 33196765)
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020 May 15;69(19):603-605. (PMID: 32407306)
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020 Apr 17;69(15):465-471. (PMID: 32298250)
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jun 07;19(12):. (PMID: 35742213)
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020 Jun 12;69(23):699-704. (PMID: 32525856)
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020 Nov 20;69(46):1725-1729. (PMID: 33211680)
Stat Med. 2007 Apr 15;26(8):1688-701. (PMID: 17285683)
Psychiatry. 2021 Winter;84(4):386-392. (PMID: 35061963)
JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Sep 1;3(9):e2019686. (PMID: 32876685)
Health Aff (Millwood). 2021 Mar;40(3):487-495. (PMID: 33646862)
MMWR Surveill Summ. 2006 Apr 7;55(2):1-18. (PMID: 16601667)
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020 Aug 14;69(32):1049-1057. (PMID: 32790653)
Telemed J E Health. 2021 Dec;27(12):1385-1392. (PMID: 33606560)
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020 Sep 11;69(36):1250-1257. (PMID: 32915166)
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Nov 02;19(21):. (PMID: 36361222)
MMWR Surveill Summ. 2021 Sep 10;70(4):1-21. (PMID: 34499632)
J Nurse Pract. 2021 Feb;17(2):218-221. (PMID: 33106751)

Keywords: COVID-19; World Trade Center Health Program; health care service use; telemedicine

Date Created: 20240201 Latest Revision: 20240426

20240426

PMC11037234

10.1177/00333549231223143

38298086