EVALUATING A NURSE PRACTITIONER-LED TELEHEALTH FOR MEDICARE ADVANTAGE (THV-MA) PROGRAM

Some older adults lack access to healthcare. Access issues were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for older adults. Seniors' lack of routine primary care visits for chronic disease management and preventive screenings, resulting in gaps in care, is concerning. To address access to care issues and care gaps, many organizations converted face-to-face visits to telehealth visits (THV). This DNP project provides a program evaluation of the effectiveness of an existing Telehealth for Medicare Advantage (THV-MA) program to identify the program's strengths and areas for improvement and make recommendations for expansion of the program to other regions within the organization. Method: Using the Logic Model and STEM telehealth program measurement domains as a guide, retrospective data were analyzed to determine whether the telehealth program's outcome indicators of healthcare access, care gap closure, and patient satisfaction were met from April 2023 through August 2023. Results: Of the 3,021 patients contacted, 164 (5.4%) agreed to a THV and scheduled an appointment. Two barriers, no smart device, or physical limitations, affected 10% of patients and resulted in an unscheduled THV. A point biserial correlation analysis indicated that older patients tend not to schedule THV. Of scheduled visits, 119 were completed, translating to nearly 73%. A total of 94% of patients had one or more care gaps closed during the THV. The THV-MA program had high patient satisfaction, with 45% of the patients completing the telephone survey. The most frequent single-word description of the THV-MA program was "thorough."