New Awards Target Research on Telehealth Value in Rheumatology

Healthcare providers and researchers who are looking into how telehealth can be used to treat patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases could score some extra funding for their work.

The Rheumatology Research Foundation, partnering with AbbVie and UCB and with support from Bristol Myers Squibb, is offering four awards aimed at research into the use of connected health technologies to improve, among other things, patient care and clinical outcomes.

The need for research is driven in large part by the rapid adoption of telehealth as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Many providers have jumped on the bandwagon in a hurry to push in-person care onto virtual channels, and they now need best practices and resources to ensure that those services can be sustained and scaled over the long term.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has required flexibility and creativity on the part of the rheumatology community as it has continued to provide quality care for patients in unprecedented circumstances,” Jeff Stark, MD, head of immunology medical affairs for UCB, said in a press release. “In the setting of these challenges, new tools like digital health platforms have enabled rheumatologists and advanced practice professionals to reach and care for patients in new ways.”

Last July, as the pandemic was shifting into high gear, the American College of Rheumatology issued a position paper supporting the use of telehealth.

“Prior studies on use of telemedicine in rheumatology suggest a role for its use in monitoring established patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but evidence is limited in patients with other rheumatic diseases,” the organization said. “Thus, the ACR endorses the use of telemedicine but recognizes shortcomings of virtual visits and recommends that telemedicine be used in conjunction with periodic in-person visits.”

That said, the organization recommended that its members “study telemedicine rigorously with respect to outcomes of remote care, best use of less frequent in-person visits, and validation of remote disease activity monitoring.”

The awards are targeted at mentored investigators (three years, up to $225,000) early career investigators (three years, up to $375,000), independent academic researchers (two years, up to $400,000) and community practitioners (two years, up to $400,000). A webinar is scheduled for May 13, letters of intent are required by June 1 and applications are due by August 2 for the community practitioner award and July 1 for the other three awards.

Examples of projects that might qualify for the awards include:

• Leveraging telehealth to drive health equity and expand access to rheumatology care;
• Approaches to improving uptake and satisfaction with telehealth for patients and rheumatology providers;
• Leveraging or enhancing telehealth approaches to better shape infrastructure, policies, procedures, patient flows and training for healthcare provider teams and patients;
• Implementing solutions to enhance and expand on new or existing technology to improve telehealth and telehealth delivery; and
• Determining how well telehealth works in adjunct to in-person care for different patient populations and circumstances to facilitate shared decision-making.

Aside from improving patient care and outcomes, the project should also look to boost patient education and engagement, improve access to rheumatology care, reduce cost, improve savings and efficiency and improve workflows and resources for care providers.