Utilizing telehealth in primary care: a best practice implementation project.

INTRODUCTION: Telehealth in primary care continues to expand, offering improved access, reduced barriers, and enhanced chronic disease monitoring. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project was to improve telehealth utilization among primary care providers at a suburban primary care practice in Mississippi, United States. METHODS: This best practice implementation project followed the JBI Evidence Implementation Framework, using the JBI Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System (PACES) and the Getting Research into Practice (GRiP) audit and feedback process to evaluate six evidence-based recommendations for telehealth in primary care. The JBI Framework guided the preliminary audit, identification of barriers and enablers to inform the development of implementation strategies, and follow-up audit cycles to measure improvements in compliance. Both the initial and follow-up audits were conducted through provider surveys, electronic health record review of 30 purposively sampled telehealth encounters, and communication with the nurse manager. RESULTS: Baseline audit findings demonstrated substantial compliance with telehealth integration (100%) and provider feedback processes (100%). However, low compliance was identified in provider telehealth training (0%), patient telehealth training (0%), patient feedback collection (20%), and telemonitoring utilization (0%). Targeted interventions focused on establishing both provider and patient training programs and a standardized patient feedback system. Following implementation, provider training improved from 0% to 100%, and structured patient feedback improved from 20% to 70%. No change was observed for patient training (0%) or telemonitoring systems (0%). CONCLUSIONS: The project partially met its objective by improving selected telehealth practices through structured audit and feedback. The findings underscored the effectiveness of uncomplicated workflow-centered strategies and the importance of leadership commitment for sustainability. SPANISH ABSTRACT: https://links.lww.com/IJEBH/A716.