ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2023
Overcoming Access Barriers for Veterans: Cohort Study of the Distribution and Use of Veterans Affairs' Video-Enabled Tablets Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinician Decision-Making Around Offering Home Video Telehealth Visits: Qualitative Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Meeting People Where They Are: Strategies for Improving Rural Representation in Clinical Research through Pragmatic Clinical Trials.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2026Article
- Tablets and telehealth: expanding care reach by closing the digital divide.Health affairs scholar · 2026Article
- Offering in-home video visits: a descriptive national survey of interprofessional clinicians across Veterans Health Administration.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Clocking Injustice: Racial Disparities in Specialty Wait Times.Health services research · 2025Article
- Article
- Exploring Contactless Vital Signs Collection in Video Telehealth Visits Among Veterans Affairs Providers and Patients: Pilot Usability Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Evaluation of the Veterans Health Administration's Digital Divide Consult for Tablet Distribution and Telehealth Adoption: Cohort Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Development and Validation of a Measure to Assess Patient Experiences With Video Care Encounters.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Can telemedicine reach rural, older veterans on the edge of or caught in the digital divide? - Unique considerations for two distinct populations.Cogent gerontology · 2024Article
- Overcoming Obstacles: Barriers to Virtual Care Use Among Video-Enabled Tablet Recipients in the Veterans Health Administration.Journal of general internal medicine · 2024Article
- Adoption and Sustained Use of Primary Care Video Visits Among Veterans with VA Video-Enabled Tablets.Journal of medical systems · 2024Article
- An Online Learning Experience Simulating Video Telehealth with Older Adults: Student Perceptions.Journal of technology in behavioral science · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, as health care services shifted to video- and phone-based modalities for patient and provider safety, the Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Connected Care widely expanded its video-enabled tablet program to bridge digital divides for veterans with limited video care access.
objectiveThis study aimed to characterize veterans who received and used US Department of VA-issued video-enabled tablets before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsWe compared sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of veterans who received VA-issued tablets during 6-month prepandemic and pandemic periods (ie, from March 11, 2019, to September 10, 2019, and from March 11, 2020, to September 10, 2020). Then, we examined characteristics associated with video visit use for primary and mental health care within 6 months after tablet shipment, stratifying models by timing of tablet receipt.
resultsThere was a nearly 6-fold increase in the number of veterans who received tablets in the pandemic versus prepandemic study periods (n=36,107 vs n=6784, respectively). Compared to the prepandemic period, tablet recipients during the pandemic were more likely to be older (mean age 64 vs 59 years), urban-dwelling (24,504/36,107, 67.9% vs 3766/6784, 55.5%), and have a history of housing instability (8633/36,107, 23.9% vs 1022/6784, 15.1%). Pandemic recipients were more likely to use video care (21,090/36,107, 58.4% vs 2995/6784, 44.2%) and did so more frequently (5.6 vs 2.3 average encounters) within 6 months of tablet receipt. In adjusted models, pandemic and prepandemic video care users were significantly more likely to be younger, stably housed, and have a mental health condition than nonusers.
conclusionsAlthough the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased distribution of VA-issued tablets to veterans with complex clinical and social needs, tablet recipients who were older or unstably housed remained less likely to have a video visit. The VA's tablet distribution program expanded access to video-enabled devices, but interventions are needed to bridge disparities in video visit use among device recipients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.