Background The COVID pandemic has changed and will continue changing the way we practice medicine. We sought to investigate the impact of telehealth (TH) in the delivery of healthcare in the general infectious diseases (GID), and HIV clinic during the COVID pandemic. The University of Rochester Medical Center is a major tertiary care and referral center for ID in upstate New York. From March through May of 2020, the clinics were closed, and nearly all visits were conducted by TH. Methods We surveyed (either by telephone or online) a total of 260 patients who participated in TH visits, with a mean age of 56 years in the HIV group and 59 years in the GID group. With a predominance of 62.8 of males v/s 37.2 of females. We collected information regarding the reason for the TH visits, access to technology, patient satisfaction, and preferences over in-person visits. We obtained the volume and no-show rate from prior years through EPIC. We evaluated compliance between in-person and TH visits using statistical analysis. Results We found 93.4% of GID and 84.3% of HIV patients surveyed, either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed that their TH visit was as satisfactory as a clinic visit. 67.5% of GID and 63% of HIV patients agreed that the option of TH would increase their compliance rate in the future. The no-show rate during the TH period in the HIV group decreased from 23% to 5% compared to the previous year, while the no-show rate in GID decreased from 9% to 4%. These results were statistically significant with a P-value < 0.005 in both groups. Conclusion GID patients were more likely to have TH for hospital follow-up, follow-up of acute problems, and outpatient antibiotic therapy, compared to HIV patients, who more often had TH for chronic problems. GID patients were more likely to have the capability for televideo visits when compared to the HIV group, although this was not statistically significant. TH was statistically significant in improving patient compliance with appointments in both the HIV and ID clinics. Patients were overall highly satisfied with their TH experience and many patients also reported that continued availability of telemedicine would improve their compliance with appointments. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures
Background Access to infectious disease (ID) providers has been heavily impacted by COVID-19. Telemedicine (TM) has been viewed as a promising solution to the challenges in care delivery posed by this pandemic. However, perceptions of TM among ID providers remain unclear. This study investigated the impact of TM on outpatient ID during the COVID-19 pandemic, efficacy of TM in ID clinics, which clinical conditions within ID that TM may be best suited for, and influences on provider attitudes toward TM. Methods We conducted online surveys of outpatient ID providers via the IDSA Idea Exchange and by reaching out to large ID private practices via email. Data was collected October 2020 - April 2021 and recorded through REDCap (Research and Electronic Data Capture). Associations were calculated using Hmisc in R and p-values adjusted using B-H. Missing values were imputed by median. Results 108 respondents completed the survey. 70.4% were attendings, 63% were under age 50, and 65.7% practiced in academic centers. 55.7% somewhat or strongly agreed there was a decline in outpatient visits. A median of 40% of outpatient visits during COVID were reported to be conducted via TM, divided equally between telephone and televideo (TV). 71.9% of providers somewhat or strongly agreed that TV visits were more effective than telephone visits. Reasons cited for TM as less effective than in person visits included lessened ability to examine the patient, diminished rapport, and inability to perform labwork. 85.2% somewhat or strongly agreed that patients responded favorably to TM. 89.8% of providers somewhat or strongly agreed they will continue to conduct TM visits when appropriate after COVID-19. Plans to continue TM after COVID were significantly associated with perceptions of patient response to TM. Respondents mentioned specific problems less suited to TM: new HIV patients, skin, soft tissue, and joint infections, fever, abdominal pain, transplant evaluations, rash, and wounds. Conclusion The majority of providers felt their patients responded favorably to TM. Most providers plan to conduct TM visits after COVID-19. These plans are associated with views of patient response and comparability to other visit types. Specific diagnoses were cited as better suited for TM. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated increase in family care responsibilities resulted in unsustainable personal and professional workloads for Infectious Diseases (ID) faculty on the front lines. This was especially true for early-stage faculty (ESF), many of whom had caregiving responsibilities. In addition, women faculty, underrepresented in medicine and science faculty, and particularly ESF experienced marked declines in research productivity, which significantly impacts career trajectories. When combined with staffing shortages due to an aging workforce and suboptimal recruitment and retention in ID, these work-life imbalances have brought the field to an inflection point. We propose actionable recommendations and call on ID leaders to act to close the gender, racial, and ethnic gaps to improve the recruitment, retention, and advancement of ESF in ID. By investing in systemic change to make the ID workforce more equitable, we can embody the shared ideals of diversity and inclusion and prepare for the next pandemic.
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