This retrospective cohort study used electronic medical records data from seven ambulatory-care-based federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). These FQHCs serve a large population of low-income and racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse patients in the Memphis, TN, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), a large, urban metropolitan area in the Southern region of the United States. The study included adults (≥18 years) with ASCSs. Patients with ASCSs were defined using the primary diagnoses of any following conditions: diabetes, hypertension, chronic heart failure, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma.18 (link) All patients were receiving healthcare for their respective ASCSs diagnoses.
We included adult outpatients treated for an ASCS from March 5, 2020, through December 31, 2020, to assess the association of sociodemographic and neighborhood-level factors with the telehealth service utilization rate during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The starting date was selected based on the date of the first COVID-19 case in the state. We excluded those individuals with missing information on race and other patient-level factors. The information was missing for less than 5% of the total sample. We also excluded census tracks that were outside of Memphis MSA.
We included adult outpatients treated for an ASCS from March 5, 2020, through December 31, 2020, to assess the association of sociodemographic and neighborhood-level factors with the telehealth service utilization rate during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The starting date was selected based on the date of the first COVID-19 case in the state. We excluded those individuals with missing information on race and other patient-level factors. The information was missing for less than 5% of the total sample. We also excluded census tracks that were outside of Memphis MSA.
