1. Families of Veterans with Dementia Opt to Reduce the
Frequency of In-Person Visits Once Enrolled in Home
Clinical Video Telehealth Program
Zehra Jafri and Lauren Moo MD
Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA
Introduction
The Bedford division of the
New England Geriatric
Research Education and
Clinical center (GRECC) was
the first to launch a clinical
video telehealth (CVT)
program for dementia
management visits into
homes of dementia
patients and caregivers. It
reduced patient travel time
and patient routine
disruption when compared
to in-patient visits. We
wanted to see whether or
not families would opt to
reduce the frequency of
their Integrated Memory
Assessment and Continuity
Clinic (IMACC) visits.
Methods
Computerized patient
record system (CPRS)
was used to track
IMACC visits within 18
months before the first
CVT visit and 18
months after the first
CVT visit for n = 43
patients enrolled in
both CVT and IMACC
spanning from March
2013 through June
2016.
Results
Most families opted
to reduce the
frequency of in-
person visits once
enrolled in Home-
CVT (p < 0.01). The
mean number for
IMACC visits before
first CVT visit before
18 months is 1.79
visits, while the
mean number for
IMACC visits after
first CVT visit after 18
months is 1.10 visits.
Conclusion
Home-CVT can provide
clinical dementia
management that is
comparable to in-person
care. The frequency of in-
person visits drops once the
patients are enrolled. Next
steps would be determining
why families opt to reduce
the frequency of their visits,
and if this is resulting in
reduced ER visits, travel time,
cost savings, dementia stage,
and comorbidities, if at all.
Mean St Dev SE Mean
1: #IMACC visits
before first CVT
visits (w/in 18
months)
1.79 0.84 0.1281
2: #IMACC visits
after first CVT
visit (w/in 18
months)
1.10 0.81 0.1235
Reference
Home-Based Video
Telehealth for Veterans
with Dementia Fed
Practitioner. 2014
December;31(12):36-38,
Moo LR Jafri Z Morin PJ