E-TREAT: Evaluation of Telemedicine for diabetes care in Latinos

PROJECT SUMMARY E-TREAT: Evaluation of Telemedicine for diabetes and hypertension care in Latinos Latinos are more likely to have diabetes and hypertension and to face poor outcomes and complications from these diseases. Quality primary care can reduce poor outcomes from these diseases, but primary care services changed drastically in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic shifted many primary care visits from face-to-face visits to telemedicine (telephone and video) visits. It is uncertain how frequently Latino patients with diabetes and hypertension utilized (and continue to utilize) these types of visits, and how this may have affected the services they received for diabetes and hypertension, and how well their diseases were controlled. It is also unknown how various social factors (community economic resources, language barriers, access to broadband internet) might moderate the association of telemedicine on diabetes and hypertension care and control. This study will assess the use of telemedicine (video and telephone visits) vs. in person visits between Latino and non-Hispanic white patients with diabetes and/or hypertension seen at community health centers in the United States over the course of and subsequent to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will also assess the association of telemedicine utilization with the receipt of recommended diabetes and hypertension care services, and assess the potential of social determinants of health to moderate the effectiveness of telemedicine in mitigating disparities in diabetes and hypertension care between Latino populations and non-Hispanic white populations in these patients. Understanding the quality of diabetes and hypertension care delivered via telemedicine among Latinos with diabetes and hypertension and which social determinants of health moderate its effectiveness is critical for healthcare planning and policies around reimbursement and regulations and will have a significant impact on patients, clinicians, policy-makers, and healthcare system leaders and allow for equitable healthcare delivery.