Rates found to be lowest for telehealth visits<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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TUESDAY, Nov. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Rates of loop closure are low for all test types across all primary care visit modalities but are worse for telehealth visits, according to a study published online Nov. 15 in\u00a0JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Anthony Zhong, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues examined the prevalence of diagnostic loop closure for tests and referrals ordered at telehealth visits versus in-person visits. The analysis included test and referral orders for 4,133 patient visits from March 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2021, at a large urban hospital-based primary care practice and one affiliated community health center.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 27.8 percent of orders were placed during a telehealth visit, and of the telehealth orders, 42.6 percent were completed within the designated time frame versus 58.4 percent of those ordered during in-person visits and 57.4 percent of those ordered without a visit. In the adjusted analysis, patients with telehealth visits were still less likely to close the loop for all test types versus those with in-person visits (odds ratio, 0.55).<\/p>\n “Failure to close diagnostic loops presents a patient safety challenge in primary care that may be of particular concern during telehealth encounters,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed ties to industry.<\/p>\n