Evaluation of an Outpatient Research Facility Telehealth Program

Chronic diseases globally contribute to heightened rates of morbidity and mortality. Telehealth is a viable approach to managing chronic illness. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, a research facility implemented telehealth in April 2020 to continue research activities. A telehealth program evaluation was needed to explore the facility's strengths and improvement opportunities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Framework for Program Evaluation guided the evaluation to determine whether telehealth implementation improved care access, efficiency, and provider experiences. Missed and canceled visits, visit duration, and wait times between April 2020 and June 2023 were analyzed for those 19 years and older with chronic illnesses identified by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes. Provider experiences were measured with the Telehealth Usability Questionnaire. The facility transitioned from Microsoft Teams® to a telehealth platform in March 2023, offering more robust data. Analyses revealed improved completed visits, decreased patient abandoned visits, and varied canceled and duration percentages. Providers missed visits less frequently than patients. Run charts for telehealth total visits versus chronic visits did not reveal special cause variations. Provider experiences were favorable except for telehealth reliability and interface quality. Recommendations include continued user training, evaluating patients' experiences, exploring telehealth's impact on research participant recruitment, and standardizing evaluation processes through policy development.