Remote physician and In-home physician visits equally good for care of adverse events: JAMA

The key findings of this study were:

1. 172 participants in all were randomized; enrollment was cut short because to COVID-19.

2. 42 (24.4%) patients lived alone, 97 patients (56.4%) were female, 77 (45.0%) were White, and the mean (SD) age was 69.3 (18.0) years.

3. The difference of 2.8 between the mean adjusted adverse event count for patients receiving remote care and control patients—6.8 per 100 patients vs. 3.9 per 100 patients—supports noninferiority.

4. The mean adjusted Picker Patient Experience Questionnaire 15 score difference between remote care patients and control patients was 0.22, demonstrating noninferiority.

5. The difference in the mean absolute 30-day readmission rate was 2.28%, which was not statistically significant. 16 (19.0%) of the patients in the distant group needed further home visits after the initial visit.

In conclusion, although the ability to conduct in-home physician visits when necessary was crucial for the remote physician group, no system of remote physician care can be relied upon in isolation, remote physician care was generally acceptable and statistically non-inferior to in-home physician care for patient safety and patient experience.

Reference: 

Levine, D. M., Paz, M., Burke, K., Beaumont, R., Boxer, R. B., Morris, C. A., Britton, K. A., Orav, E. J., & Schnipper, J. L. (2022). Remote vs In-home Physician Visits for Hospital-Level Care at Home. In JAMA Network Open (Vol. 5, Issue 8, p. e2229067). American Medical Association (AMA). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.29067