Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39482477›Full record

ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2025

Impact of Home Telehealth Expansion on High-Cost Utilization Among Veterans Health Administration Patients with Diabetes.

Ashok Reddy, Eric J Gunnink, Jorge Rojas, Karin Nelson, Edwin S Wong

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Ashok ReddyDivision of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Ashok.Reddy@va.gov.ORCID 0000-0001-5238-629X
Eric J GunninkCenter for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.
Jorge RojasCenter for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.
Karin NelsonDivision of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Edwin S WongCenter for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHome telehealth (HT) services have rapidly expanded in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), but little is known about the real-world impact of the expansion of these services on utilization.

objectiveTo evaluate the impact of expanding HT diabetes services in VHA on high-cost utilization.

designThis cohort study used cross-temporal propensity score matching to identify patients with diabetes who would receive HT services (treatment group) with program expansion (treatment group) with a comparison group of patients with diabetes who did not receive HT services (control group) between 2010 and 2018. A difference-in-differences design was used to compare pre-post changes in high-cost utilization between propensity-matched groups. Data used was from the VHA's Corporate Data Warehouse.

participantsVHA patients with diabetes, n=7214 in the treatment group who received HT services, and n=1,067,138 in the control group who did not receive HT services. MAIN MEASURE(S): Emergency department (ED) visits, all-cause hospitalization, and hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs). KEY

resultsIn the baseline period, patients in our sample had a mean age of 67 years old (SD=11 years), were 97% male, and 78% had a hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) < 8%. The increase in HT use was associated with a net increase of ED visits per patient (0.215 95% CI [0.152, 0.279]), all-cause hospitalization (0.053 95% CI [0.032, 0.074]), and ACSC hospitalization (0.032 95% CI [0.019, 0.045]).

conclusionsExpanding HT or remote monitoring services may lead to additional needs being identified for patients, including increased access to in-person care, such as ED or hospital services.

Indexed as

Diabetes MellitusPatient Acceptance of Health CareTelemedicineUnited States Department of Veterans AffairsAgedCohort StudiesEmergency Service, HospitalFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesUnited StatesVeteransVeterans Healthchronic disease managementcomparative effectivenesstelehealth

Identifiers

PMID39482477
PMCPMC12045899

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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.