Other Titles
Rising Star Poster/Presentation
Abstract
Purpose/Background: Telemedicine reduces barriers to access which can decrease inappropriate emergency room use. This quality improvement project aimed to connect a community-based organization (CBO) to a telemedicine urgent care in the Midwest.
Framework: The PRECEDE-PROCEED framework guided the population assessment and the Theory of Planned Behavior guided the project development/implementation.
Methods: A mixed method design was used (interviews and pretest/posttest) for the development and implementation of a 12-week project at a large academic medical center. This project included (a) interviewing CBO staff and utilizing pre-test survey to determine awareness/utilization of telemedicine, (b) development of CBO staff education and training protocol for CBO and telemedicine staff, (c) development of flyers with QR codes, and (d) festival marketing. Evaluation measures included (a) post-intervention survey for CBO staff, (b) QR code scanning for tracking telemedicine program engagement, and (c) a post-visit survey for telemedicine program patients.
Results: At 12-week follow-up, 100% of CBO staff (n=11) indicated a high level of confidence on a 5-point Likert scale in assisting patients with telemedicine and 33.3% reported referring at least one patient. Per post-visit survey, 62.7% (n=83) of patients reported the telemedicine visit kept them out of the ER and 23.5% reported they would not have otherwise received healthcare. Program engagement tracking showed 53 QR code scans with 50 new users.
Conclusions: The project demonstrated a promising potential in preventing ER visits. This project was adopted by the telemedicine program as a model for future community outreach to benefit CBOs serving diverse medically underserved communities.
Notes
References:
Haimi, M. (2023). The tragic paradoxical effect of telemedicine on healthcare disparities- a time for redemption: A narrative review. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-023-02194-4
Karimi, M., Buchmueller, T., De Lew, N., Smith, S., Marton, W., Lamont, H., Beleche, T., Couture, S. J., & Wong Samson, L. (2024). Trends and disparities in pandemic telehealth use among people with disabilities. Office for the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/pandemic-telehealth-use-people-disabilities
Latifi, R., Doarn, C. R., & Merrell, R. C. (2021). Telemedicine, telehealth and telepresence: Principles, strategies, applications, and New Directions. Springer.
Payan, D. D., Frehn, J. L., Garcia, L., Tierney, A. A., & Rodriguez, H. P. (2022). Telemedicine implementation and use in community health centers during COVID-19: Clinic personnel and Patient Perspectives. SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, 2, 100054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2022.100054
VanderBeek, B. L. (2021). Telemedicine and the exacerbation of healthcare disparities. JAMA Ophthalmology, 139(11), 1182. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2021.37
Sigma Membership
Gamma Phi
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Quality Improvement
Research Approach
Mixed/Multi Method Research
Keywords:
Telemedicine, Community Health, Access to Healthcare
Recommended Citation
Marks, Nicole and Daniel, Manju, "Telemedicine for Improving Healthcare Access in Communities" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 199.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/posters_2025/199
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Invited Presentation
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Telemedicine for Improving Healthcare Access in Communities
Seattle, Washington, USA
Purpose/Background: Telemedicine reduces barriers to access which can decrease inappropriate emergency room use. This quality improvement project aimed to connect a community-based organization (CBO) to a telemedicine urgent care in the Midwest.
Framework: The PRECEDE-PROCEED framework guided the population assessment and the Theory of Planned Behavior guided the project development/implementation.
Methods: A mixed method design was used (interviews and pretest/posttest) for the development and implementation of a 12-week project at a large academic medical center. This project included (a) interviewing CBO staff and utilizing pre-test survey to determine awareness/utilization of telemedicine, (b) development of CBO staff education and training protocol for CBO and telemedicine staff, (c) development of flyers with QR codes, and (d) festival marketing. Evaluation measures included (a) post-intervention survey for CBO staff, (b) QR code scanning for tracking telemedicine program engagement, and (c) a post-visit survey for telemedicine program patients.
Results: At 12-week follow-up, 100% of CBO staff (n=11) indicated a high level of confidence on a 5-point Likert scale in assisting patients with telemedicine and 33.3% reported referring at least one patient. Per post-visit survey, 62.7% (n=83) of patients reported the telemedicine visit kept them out of the ER and 23.5% reported they would not have otherwise received healthcare. Program engagement tracking showed 53 QR code scans with 50 new users.
Conclusions: The project demonstrated a promising potential in preventing ER visits. This project was adopted by the telemedicine program as a model for future community outreach to benefit CBOs serving diverse medically underserved communities.
Description
This quality improvement project aimed to connect a community-based organization (CBO) to a telemedicine urgent care to reduce barriers to access and decrease inappropriate emergency room use. A mixed method design was used to develop and implement a 12-week project at a large academic medical center. The project demonstrated a promising potential in preventing ER visits and provides a model for future community outreach to benefit CBOs serving diverse medically underserved communities.