Pediatric Virtual Visits as a Strategy for Access to Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Pediatric Hospital

Pediatric Virtual Visits as a Strategy for Access to Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Pediatric Hospital. Missed Appointments Rates, Associated Factors, Generation and Validation of Predictive Models

In this study we will describe the factors associated with missed virtual visit appointments in an academic children´s hospital during the covid-19 pandemic and we will develop a predictive model that serves as the basis for improving the Telehealth Program.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Telehealth

Detailed Description

Pediatric visits are a fundamental axis of health policies because actions to promote and protect health have a maximum effect on children. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic a marked decrease in pediatric visits was observed in scheduled and on-call visits. This fact can be explained by the restriction on people's circulation necessary to contain COVID-19 dissemination. In this context, the population that attends the Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde was especially affected, since 91% of the patients attending the institution live in another district.

In order to overcome this barrier in access to care, we decided to implement a Telehealth Program that uses virtual visits as a tool for access to care. Little is known about the effects that these programs can have on patients with exclusive public health coverage. Although virtual visits could be a solution for access to care in an oversaturated system, there is the possibility that virtual visits could not be carried out and that a significant proportion will be lost, increasing inequity and difficulties in access to health.

Due to the relevance of the topic and the little information available, we propose in this study to estimate the proportion of virtual visits appointments lost. On the other hand, considering the possibility of avoiding the loss of virtual visits appointments, we propose to describe the factors associated with missed appointments and develop a predictive model that serves as the basis for improving the Telehealth Program.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 3339

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Argentina
  • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 1 month to 18 years (ADULT, CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All scheduled virtual visit appointments between August 1 2020 and 31 december 2020 will be included. The sample will be randomized to allocate a generation cohort (two-thirds of the sample) and a validation cohort (one third of the sample).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• All scheduled virtual visits

Exclusion Criteria:

• On-call virtual visits

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Lost Virtual Visit; Pediatric patients who had scheduled an appointment for a virtual visit and missed.
Attended Virtual Visit; Pediatric patients who had scheduled an appointment for a virtual visit and attended.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Prevalence of missed appointments	Characterize, describe and compare the clinical and administrative characteristics of outpatients who didn't attend and attended an appointment in pediatrics	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Clinical and administrative characteristics	Characterize, describe and compare the clinical and administrative characteristics of outpatients who didn't attend and attended an appointment in pediatrics	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Mariano E Ibarra, MD, Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): March 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): September 1, 2021
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): September 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 1, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 1, 2021
• First Posted (ACTUAL): February 3, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): September 22, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 15, 2021
• Last Verified: September 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Children; COVID-19; Telehealth; virtual visit; Lost appointments
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Respiratory Tract Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Lung Diseases; COVID-19
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2392

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No