Original Article

Discoveries and insights from implementing telehealth in a tele-acute unit: A retrospective study

  • Gregory N. Orewa 1
  • Erin E. Blanchard 2 *
  • Sue S. Feldman 2
  • Jason Bains 3
  • Bart Kelly 4
  • Terri Scarborough 5
  • William Stigler 6
  • Eric Wallace 7
  • Abdulaziz Ahmed 2
  • 1. College for Health, Community and Policy, Department of Public Health, University of Texas San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States
  • 2. School of Health Professions, Department of Health Services Administration, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
  • 3. University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System, Department of Health System Information Services, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
  • 4. University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System, Department of Telehealth Services, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
  • 5. University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, Department of Nursing Services, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
  • 6. Heersink School of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
  • 7. Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
* Correspondence:
Abstract:

Objective: This study examines the impact of telehealth nursing interventions on length of stay (LOS) and ratio of LOS to risk-adjusted length of stay comparing tele-acute and traditional units.
Methods: Retrospective data from 6,999 patient visits at tele-acute and traditional hospital units between Q2 2020 and Q4 2022 were collected. Bivariate analysis and the Mann-Whitney U Test were used to determine statistical significance. Multivariate regression was conducted to analyze the factors affecting both LOS and the ratio.
Results: Regardless of the model, the findings suggest that LOS was greater in the traditional unit. In the LOS model, the stay was 7 hours and 39 minutes longer per admission in the traditional unit. In the risk-adjusted ratio model, the LOS was 5 hours and 14 minutes longer per admission than in the tele-acute unit.
Conclusions: This study contributes to a body of literature that is lacking in the use of telehealth nursing in the acute care setting. Our research offers new perspectives on how telehealth can affect operational measures like LOS and discharge times. This contribution is important as it broadens the scope of telehealth’s benefits beyond traditional remote care, highlighting its potential in fast-paced, acute care settings.

  • Keywords:
  • Length of stay; Tele-acute; Telehealth; Telemedicine
DOI: 10.5430/jha.v13n2p77
  • How to cite this article: Gregory N. Orewa, Erin E. Blanchard, Sue S. Feldman, et al. Discoveries and insights from implementing telehealth in a tele-acute unit: A retrospective study. Journal of Hospital Administration. 2024;13(2):77-84.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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