Telehealth Fatigue: Is It Real? What Should Be Done?

This commentary article discusses the recent trends and changes in popularity of telehealth usage as well as the most recent efforts to redefine telehealth value and usability. Six strategies to improve the patient experience and increase telehealth acceptance by overcoming simultaneous barriers are presented, which include (1) creating a new healthcare paradigm using telehealth, (2) scheduling the telehealth visit, (3) preparing for the telehealth visit, (4) conducting the telehealth visit, (5) using data and biomarkers, and (6) providing digital equity. With the application of these strategies, we believe that the recent decline in the popularity of telehealth can be reversed.

Appropriate Use of Telehealth Visits in Endocrinology: Policy Perspective of the Endocrine Society.

Objective: This work aims to guide clinicians practicing endocrinology in the use of telehealth (synchronous patient-clinician visits conducted over video or telephone) for outpatient care.

Participants: The Endocrine Society convened a 9-member panel of US endocrinologists with expertise in telehealth clinical care, telehealth operations, patient-centered care, health care delivery research, and/or evidence-based medicine.

Evidence: The panel conducted a literature search to identify studies published since 2000 about telehealth in endocrinology.

Rural Telehealth Visits in the Management of Type 1 Diabetes.

Introduction: Despite advances in and increased adoption of technology, glycemic outcomes for individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) have not improved. Access to care is limited for many, in part due to a shortage of endocrinologists and their concentration in urban areas. Managing T1D via telehealth has potential to improve glycemic outcomes, as the barriers of travel-related time and cost are mitigated.

The Association of Diabetes and Hyperglycemia on Inpatient Readmissions.

Objective: To evaluate the association between inpatient glycemic control and readmission in individuals with diabetes and hyperglycemia (DM/HG).

Methods: Two data sets were analyzed from fiscal years 2011 to 2013: hospital data using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes for DM/HG and point of care (POC) glucose monitoring. The variables analyzed included gender, age, mean, minimum and maximum glucose, along with 4 measures of glycemic variability (GV), standard deviation, coefficient of variation, mean amplitude of glucose excursions, and average daily risk range.

Remote Patient Monitoring and Clinical Outcomes for Postdischarge Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in clinical outcomes for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) after a 3-month remote patient monitoring (RPM) program, and examine the relationship between hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) outcomes and participant characteristics. The study sample included 955 patients with T2D who were admitted to an urban Midwestern medical center for any reason from 2014 to 2017, and used RPM for 3 months after discharge. Clinical outcomes included HbA1c, weight, body mass index (BMI), and patient activation scores.