Practice setting influenced telemedicine use for patients with epilepsy, according to an analysis from a large academic medical center. In an article published in Neurology, James J. Young, MD, PhD, and colleagues assessed EHR data from 4,586 people with epilepsy, including Medicaid beneficiaries in a Medicaid outpatient clinic (n=387), Medicaid beneficiaries in the faculty practice after integration (n=723), and non-Medicaid beneficiaries (n=3,476). Patients with Medicaid outpatient clinic visits were less likely to have telehealth visits (phone or video); 81.65% of patients in the Medicaid outpatient clinic had no telehealth visits compared with 71.78% of Medicaid beneficiaries seen in the faculty practice and 70.89% of non-Medicaid beneficiaries (P<0.001). In an adjusted logistic regression analysis, Medicaid beneficiaries had lower odds of using teleneurology compared with all patients seen in the faculty practice (P<0.001). “Integrated care may be associated with better healthcare delivery in people with epilepsy; thus, future research should examine its impact on other epilepsy-related outcomes,” Dr. Young and colleagues wrote.
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