The Veterans Administration (VA) www.va.gov estimates that the prevalence of diabetes affects almost 20 percent of VA patients. Poorly controlled diabetes leads to a number of complications requiring veterans to adhere to recommended care which requires effective communication during and after medical encounters.
A clinical trial by the VA’s Office of Research and Development www.research.va.gov is going to test whether using video interventions makes it possible to improve patients’ communication behaviors as it relates to outcomes.
The VA has been using Clinical Video Telehealth (CVT) to make it possible to provide more efficient access to high quality primary and specialist care for veterans. CVT has been particularly popular to use in the VA, since veterans are very often geographically separated from other veterans and from their providers located at VA Medical Centers.
However, sometimes CVT encounters seem to be less personal than in-person visits and communication during CVT visits may be more challenging for both patients and providers resulting in less patient-centered communication.
Less personal visits may have less exchange of information, lower satisfaction, less trust, and poorer outcomes. So far, research comparing CVT with in-person consultations have found that patients in CVT visits were more passive and that CVT interactions were dominated by providers when compared with in-person visits.
During the clinical trial, investigators will develop and test a video intervention plus develop pamphlets for patients and providers to encourage active and positive communication in CVT medical interactions. This goal is supported by the project’s operational partner, the Office of Telehealth Services www.telehealth.va.gov.
In the initial phase of the study, investigators will enable the video intervention to include interviews with stakeholders and patients regarding CVT barriers and perceived benefits. In Phase 2, investigators will conduct a randomized trial to evaluate improvement in a number of outcomes.
This Clinical Trial titled “Encouraging Patient-Centered Communication in CVT Visits” (NCT02522494) is not yet open for participant recruitment. When the trial opens for recruitment, it is expected that the enrollment will include 470 participants 18 years and older with both genders eligible for the study with the estimated study completion data to be June 2019.
Go to https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02522494?term=telehealth&rank=31 to view the information available at https://clinicalTrials.gov. The Principal Investigator is Howard S. Gordon, MD at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago.
For more information, email howard.gordon2@va.gov, call 312-569-7331, or email Valencia E. Burton at Valencia.burton@va.gov.