UCSF

Background

An unprecedented shift to remote heart failure outpatient care occurred during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Given challenges inherent to remote care, we studied whether remote visits (video or telephone) were associated with different patient usage, clinician practice patterns, and outcomes.

Methods

We included all ambulatory cardiology visits for heart failure at a multisite health system from April 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019 (pre-COVID) or April 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020 (COVID era), resulting in 10 591 pre-COVID in-person, 7775 COVID-era in-person, 1009 COVID-era video, and 2322 COVID-era telephone visits. We used multivariable logistic and Cox proportional hazards regressions with propensity weighting and patient clustering to study ordering practices and outcomes.

Results

Compared with in-person visits, video visits were used more often by younger (mean 64.7 years [SD 14.5] versus 74.2 [14.1]), male (68.3% versus 61.4%), and privately insured (45.9% versus 28.9%) individuals (P<0.05 for all). Remote visits were more frequently used by non-White patients (35.8% video, 37.0% telephone versus 33.2% in-person). During remote visits, clinicians were less likely to order diagnostic testing (odds ratio, 0.20 [0.18-0.22] video versus in-person, 0.18 [0.17-0.19] telephone versus in-person) or prescribe β-blockers (0.82 [0.68-0.99], 0.35 [0.26-0.47]), mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (0.69 [0.50-0.96], 0.48 [0.35-0.66]), or loop diuretics (0.67 [0.53-0.85], 0.45 [0.37-0.55]). During telephone visits, clinicians were less likely to prescribe ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitor/ARB (angiotensin receptor blockers)/ARNIs (angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors; 0.54 [0.40-0.72]). Telephone visits but not video visits were associated with higher rates of 90-day mortality (1.82 [1.14-2.90]) and nonsignificant trends towards higher rates of 90-day heart failure emergency department visits (1.34 [0.97-1.86]) and hospitalizations (1.36 [0.98-1.89]).

Conclusions

Remote visits for heart failure care were associated with reduced diagnostic testing and guideline-directed medical therapy prescription. Telephone but not video visits were associated with increased 90-day mortality.