O-13 Telehealth: Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond - The Sickle Cell Unit Experience
Author(s):
L King, K Alexander-Gabbadon, N Chin, C Hammond-Gabbadon, P Simmonds-Brooks, J Harris, H Martin, K Witter, R Bartlett, J Knight-Madden, M Asnani
Year of Presentation:
2023
Objective: To examine the use of tele-health as an alternate tool for delivery of critical healthcare in persons with
sickle cell disease (SCD), a vulnerable population during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: This study was a retrospective review of patient encounters at the Sickle Cell Unit (SCU), Jamaica during a 3-year period, 10th March 2019 to 9th March 2022. Primary endpoints of registration numbers (in-person clinical and treatment-only visits), day-care admissions and study visits (physician-patient encounters either in-person or via tele-visits) were obtained from logbooks and Patient Management System (PMS), a proprietary electronic medical record system. Descriptive analyses including counts and frequencies were performed. Data are presented mainly as figures and tables for easy interpretation.
Results: Over the 3-year study period, patients registered at the clinic on 17, 295 occasions, with 7,820 (45.2%) in the pre-pandemic year. Numbers fell in the 2 subsequent pandemic years by 43.8% and 35% respectively. Day-care admissions fell in the pandemic years. Overall, study visits (SVs) increased by 4.9% and 1.3% in the pandemic. SVs increased in adults by 13.1% and 8.9% but fell by 3.2% and 6.2% in children. Tele-visits accounted for 31.4% of all SVs during the pandemic years and increased by 23.6% between the pandemic years.
Conclusion: The SCU maintained critical healthcare delivery for a high-risk population during the pandemic. The speedy implementation of tele-visits mitigated the short-fall from in-person visits and may be more acceptable to adults with a chronic illness.