Journal of general internal medicine
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Little is known about the impact of COVID-19 on patient, family member, and stakeholder patient-centered outcomes research engagement. ⋯ COVID-19 has had a significant negative impact on patient, family member, and stakeholder research team members; however, this has not resulted in less research engagement.
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Access to primary care was hindered by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. ⋯ Healthcare screening rates were reduced during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic and did not fully recover to pre-pandemic rates by July 2020. Future research should aim to clarify the long-term impacts of delayed health screenings. New interventions should be considered for expanding remote preventative health services.
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The impact of telemedicine on ambulatory care quality is a key question for policymakers as they navigate payment reform for remote care. ⋯ Patients with diabetes utilizing telemedicine performed similarly on a composite measure of diabetes care quality compared to before the pandemic. Those not utilizing telemedicine had reductions. Telemedicine use maintained quality of care for patients with diabetes during the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act led to the rapid implementation of telemedicine across healthcare office settings. This innovation has the potential to improve healthcare use and ensure continuity of care. However, this delivery model could have an unintended consequence of worsening racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare utilization if adoption varies across sub-populations. ⋯ Racial/ethnic disparities in telemedicine use persisted among this cohort. However, telemedicine improved utilization for African Americans and Hispanics living farther away from the clinic.