Telehealth diabetes services for non-English speaking patients

• Published in: Journal of the American Pharmacists Association Vol. 62; no. 4; pp. 1394 - 1399
• Main Authors: Hart, Sara, Campbell, Candice, Divine, Holly, Dicks, Melanie, Kebodeaux, Clark, Schadler, Aric, McIntosh, Tera
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-07-2022
• ISSN: 1544-3191; 1544-3450
• DOI: 10.1016/j.japh.2022.03.009

Several studies have shown the use of telehealth in diabetes management to be as efficacious as traditional clinic visits; however, these studies focused on English-speaking populations.
The primary objective of this study was to evaluate whether telehealth is an effective approach for participation in pharmacist collaborative diabetes management services among non-English–speaking or limited English proficiency (LEP) patients at a federally qualified health center (FQHC). The secondary objective was to evaluate glycated hemoglobin (A1c) as a clinical outcome in patients participating in telehealth versus in-person visits.
This study was a retrospective chart review. Patients were non-English–speaking or LEP adults (≥ 18 years of age) with a diagnosis of type-2 diabetes (T2D) referred for pharmacist collaborative diabetes management services by a medical provider. This study reviewed patient participation and A1c values over 6 months (May to October) of 2 consecutive years (2019 and 2020).
In this study, 40 patients in 2019 and 50 patients in 2020 met the inclusion criteria. In 2019, the primary visit model was in-person and 123 total visits were scheduled with a pharmacist. In 2020, the primary visit model was telehealth and 143 total visits were scheduled. In 2019, there were 28 no-show visits, which accounted for 22.8% of total visits. In 2020, there were 27 no-show visits, which accounted for 18.9% of total visits. The mean change in A1c from baseline to follow-up was found to decrease by 1.0% in 2019 and 0.95% in 2020.
We concluded that telehealth participation in pharmacist-provided collaborative T2D services and decrease in A1c were similar during telehealth compared with in-person visits among non-English–speaking and LEP patients at a FQHC. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are necessary to determine the overall impact of telehealth in non-English–speaking or LEP patients.