Offsite primary care providers using telehealth to support a sustainable workforce in rural and remote general practice: A rapid review of the literature.

Introduction: Rural and remote general practices face increasing demands for care without the workforce required to meet patient needs. The coronavirus pandemic has created an opportunity to explore sustainable, telehealth-driven solutions to this chronic and complex problem.

Objective: This review examined interventions using offsite primary care providers to deliver ongoing patient care via telehealth to support rural and remote general practices. We aimed to understand the impact of such interventions on the Quadruple Aim (patient experience, provider experience, health care costs, and health outcomes).

Design: A rapid review of studies published from 2011 and grey literature published from 2016.

Findings: Six studies met the eligibility criteria. No eligible Australian studies were identified. Most studies investigated ongoing primary care services provided via telehealth by offsite pharmacists. Patients and rural primary care staff reported positive experiences with the interventions. One study demonstrated potential return on investment for rural practices. While one study reported clinically and statistically significant improvements in health outcomes over time, two studies did not observe statistically significant differences in health outcomes between intervention and control cohorts.

Discussion: The Quadruple Aim should be carefully considered when designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions that involve offsite primary care providers using telehealth to support a sustainable workforce in rural and remote general practice.

Conclusion: Sustainable solutions to workforce shortages in rural and remote general practice are needed urgently. Using offsite primary care providers to deliver telehealth and support practices in these regions is one possible solution that warrants further investigation, particularly in Australia.