Primary Care by Telehealth and Care Quality in the Veterans Health Administration

Is the proportion of primary care delivered via telehealth in the Veterans Health Administration associated with differences in quality?In this cohort study of 744 599 veterans, quality was the same between low proportion telehealth users and nontelehealth users for most measures. Veterans with a high proportion of telehealth use had lower influenza vaccination receipt and cardiovascular and behavioral health measure performance compared with nontelehealth users.These findings suggest that a low proportion of telehealth use maintains primary care quality comparable to that of in-person care; however, a high proportion of telehealth use was associated with lower quality, especially for services needing in-person care (eg, vaccines).

Corresponding Author: Jonathan Staloff, MD, MSc, Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, 4311 11th Ave NE, Ste 210, Seattle, WA 98105 (jstaloff@uw.edu).

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