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Telemedicine Shows Promise for Follow-Up of RA
Video telemedicine is more likely to be used by patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with higher disease activity, more positive perceptions of telemedicine, and whose physicians used telemedicine more often, a new study found. Researchers determined factors associated with the use of video telemedicine when offered as part of usual care for follow-up of RA. Details included:
- Of 122 enrolled participants, 56 (46%) had been seen by telemedicine at least once.
- Factors associated with telemedicine use included higher RAPID3 score, higher number of rheumatologist visits in the preceding year, more positive perceptions of telemedicine, and seeing a physician who used telemedicine more often.
- Demographic and other disease-related factors or comorbidities were not associated with telemedicine use.
Citation:
Ferucci ED, et al. Factors associated with use of telemedicine for follow-up of rheumatoid arthritis. [Published online ahead of print August 17, 2019]. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). doi:10.1002/acr.24049.
As the US faces a worsening shortage of rheumatologists, use of alternate models of care including telemedicine has been of increasing interest in evaluation of patients with rheumatic disease. One question has been how feasible it would be to use telemedicine for patients in a subspecialty that is highly reliant on in-person physical exam. This observational study evaluated RA patients seen in the Alaska Tribal Health system for baseline factors associated with use of telemedicine and offered patients telemedicine follow-up visits to reduce travel burden and offer sooner follow-up with an out-of-state provider. RA patients in the study were generally willing to be seen via telemedicine though they preferred in-person visits and reported some technical issues. Of interest, both patients in rural and urban settings availed themselves of telemedicine visits, suggesting that they could be useful in settings other than remote areas to reduce time to follow-up. Telemedicine is of course limited by state regulations in the US and financial/legal hurdles, as well as technical barriers. The study does not present information regarding outcomes or quality of care in RA, which would be of interest in comparing in-person to telemedicine care for RA follow-up. —Arundathi Jayatilleke, MD