Impact of telehealth in the outpatient management of atrial fibrillation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated adoption of a telehealth model to replace outpatient visits. We studied quality indicators and clinical outcomes associated with virtual visits in comparison to in-person ambulatory visits for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) seen by electrophysiology providers. Methods Quality indicators and outcomes for patients with primary diagnosis of AF seen by electrophysiology providers (6 physicians and 4 nurse practitioners) for the 12 week period of March 22–June 13, 2020 were compared with those from the 12 week period of March 24–June 15, 2019. Result We identified 2340 clinic visits for AF (1081 in 2019 and 1259 in 2020). Telehealth was not used in 2019, and was used in 90.5% of the 2020 visits. On multivariate analysis during 120 days following each encounter, there was no difference in hospital admissions between 2019 and 2020 (OR 0.89; 95% CI 0.69–1.14; p=0.3624), and there was trend towards lower emergency department visits in 2020 compared with 2019 (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.6–1; p=0.0509). There were 36 deaths at 120 days, mortality was similar in 2020 as compared with 2019 (OR 1.5; 95% CI 0.74–3.03; p=0.2601). There was no difference in completed procedures including permanent pacemakers, cardiac resynchronization therapy devices, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and catheter ablations. There was a significant difference in anticoagulant (OR 0.71; 95% CI 0.52–0.99; p=0.0412) and antiarrhythmic (OR 0.78; 95% CI 0.61–0.99; p=0.0384) dose adjustment or new prescriptions in 2019 compared with 2020. Conclusion Telehealth was associated with similar intermediate-term clinical outcomes when compared to traditional ambulatory encounters. However, adjusting or providing new prescriptions for anticoagulant or anti-arrhythmic medications was more common with in-person than with virtual visits. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.