Grant Targets Best Practices In Community Telehealth Rheumatology

Researchers and collaborators at the University of Alabama (UAB) have received a two-year, $400,000 grant to support telehealth care from the American College of Rheumatology’s Rheumatology Research Foundation.

The need for virtual health care options has significantly increased because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant will be used to support the THRIVE project, which focuses on improving community-practice rheumatology care using telehealth.

CreakyJoints®, a digital arthritis community for patients and caregivers worldwide and its research registry, ArthritisPower®, are collaborators on the THRIVE project, in addition to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

“This grant is an exciting opportunity to identify and build best-in-class approaches to telehealth and to test specific strategies to assess patients with inflammatory arthritis, particularly rheumatoid arthritis,” Jeffrey Curtis, MD, professor of medicine in the Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology division at the UAB Birmingham said.

“Clinical trials and routine patient care have been severely hampered by COVID-19-related perturbations in care delivery,” he continued. “We will scope and validate methods for disease activity assessment using telehealth-related technology, coupled with remote patient monitoring capabilities, including digitally captured, patient-reported outcome data.” 

The THRIVE project aims is to define, solidify, and integrate best practices in telehealth rheumatology, with the ultimate goal of spreading these tools to community rheumatologists through an array of channels and improving rheumatology access to care.

By partnering with arthritis patient communities and community providers, the project will take a multidisciplinary approach to using telehealth to expand the impact of rheumatology and improve the value of care provided by rheumatology providers, especially for at-risk patients amidst COVID-19.

“We are excited about the partnership between academia, community practitioners, and arthritis patient communities, in what we expect to be a model paradigm for collaborative, practice-based research now and into the future,” Curtis said.

The THRIVE project’s primary investigator, Swamy Venuturupalli, MD, is the recipient of this year’s ACR’s Norman B. Gaylis, MD, Clinical Research Award. The project is slated to begin in January of 2021. 

A Doximity report from September revealed rheumatologists utilize telehealth at high rates.

“When looking at the specialties with highest rate of telemedicine adoption, there is a clear overlap of specialties that manage chronic illness, such as endocrinology and rheumatology, which top the list of specialties using telemedicine,” said Doximity Vice President Peter Alperin, MD.

“Although long-term chronic conditions such as diabetes and arthritis require frequent patient visits, we have found that these appointments do not always need to be in person,” Alperin continued. “This shows us that telemedicine can serve as a great way to reduce time-consuming and stressful trips to hospitals or clinics for those who require long-term care even after the pandemic subsides.”

Telehealth allows patients to receive care where they are, which is especially beneficial for patients with chronic illnesses who may have frequent appointments. By providing virtual care, patients who can’t or don’t want to visit the provider have a convenient option to access care.

Telehealth and remote patient monitoring programs are on the rise for people with chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes.

COVID-19 has catalyzed the development and utilization of telehealth. According to the Doximity report, the number of people reporting a minimum of one telehealth visit has jumped 57 percent since the pandemic broke out in February. For people with chronic conditions, the percentage is even higher: 77 percent.

“The pandemic has essentially required each specialty to rethink how they conduct appointments – particularly those specialties that manage chronic illness and require frequent doctor’s visits,” Alperin said.

“Although COVID-19 has been top of mind, patients with chronic illnesses and their providers have no choice but to continue managing their health and keeping up with appointments, even if those appointments take place virtually,” he continued.