VHA Patients With MS More Likely to Use Telemedicine

In the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA), patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) were significantly more likely to use telemedicine compared with matched controls, according to a study published in Neurology: Clinical Practice.

“The VHA has a robust telemedicine system of care that has grown to supplement in-person care more so than other US health care systems,” researchers wrote.

The study looked at the frequency and longitudinal patterns of telemedicine use between 2010 and 2020 among patients with MS and control patients individually matched for sex, age, and Veterans Affairs service region. Sample sizes by year were 19,387 patients with MS and 86,379 control participants in 2010; 19,752 patients with MS and 88,535 controls in 2016; and 16,451 patients with MS and 78,315 controls in 2020.

Average telemedicine encounters for patients with MS increased steadily from 2010 to 2020, according to the study, with patients with MS significantly more likely to use telemedicine than controls. Odds ratios of any telemedicine encounter for patients with MS compared with controls were 1.5 in 2010, 1.9 in 2016, and 1.7 in 2020.

Phone was the most common form of telemedicine among all participants, the study showed. The largest increases in telemedicine use between 2010 and 2020 among patients with MS occurred in primary care, specialty care, specialty neurology care, and other types of health care.

Compared with controls, patients with MS tended to live in counties with more adverse social determinants of health, researchers reported.

“Future work is needed to assess the determinants of telemedicine utilization,” they advised.

Reference:
Abdel Magid HS, Jin S, Culpepper WJ, Nelson LM, Wallin M. Telemedicine utilization among patients with multiple sclerosis in the US Veterans Health Administration, 2010-2020. Neurol Clin Pract. 2022;12(6):e133-e142. doi:10.1212/CPJ.0000000000200078