PMID- 36925842 OWN - NLM STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE LR - 20230523 IS - 2813-0146 (Electronic) IS - 2813-0146 (Linking) VI - 2 DP - 2022 TI - Adapting in-person diabetes group visits to a virtual setting across federally qualified health centers. PG - 961073 LID - 10.3389/frhs.2022.961073 [doi] LID - 961073 AB - Diabetes group visits (GVs) have been shown to improve glycemic control, enrich patient self-care, and decrease healthcare utilization among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). While telehealth has become routine, virtual GVs remain understudied, especially in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). We conducted a 5-year cluster randomized trial with a waitlist control group to test the impact of diabetes GVs on patients' outcomes in Midwestern FQHCs. Due to COVID-19, the 6 waitlisted FQHCs adapted to virtual GVs. FQHC staff were provided training and support to implement virtual GVs. The GV intervention included 6 monthly 1-1.5-h long education sessions and appointments with a primary care provider. We measured staff perspectives and satisfaction via GV session logs, monthly webinars, and staff surveys and interviews. Adaptations for implementation of virtual GV included: additional staff training, video conferencing platform use, decreased session length and group size, and adjusting study materials, activities, and provider appointments. Sites enrolled a total of 48 adults with T2DM for virtual GVs. Most FQHCs were urban and all FQHCs predominantly had patients on public insurance. Patients attended 2.1 +/- 2.2 GVs across sites on average. Thirty-four patients (71%) attended one or more virtual GVs. The average GV lasted 79.4 min. Barriers to virtual GVs included patient technology issues and access, patient recruitment and enrollment, and limited staff availability. Virtual GV facilitators included providing tablets, internet access from the clinic, and technical support. Staff reported spending on average 4.9 h/week planning and implementing GVs (SD = 5.9). On average, 6 staff from each FQHC participated in GV training and 1.2 staff reported past GV experience. All staff had worked at least 1 year at their FQHC and most reported multiple years of experience caring for patients with T2DM. Staff-perceived virtual GV benefits included: empowered patients to manage their diabetes, provided patients with social support and frequent contact with providers, improved relationships with patients, increased team collaboration, and better patient engagement and care-coordination. Future studies and health centers can incorporate these findings to implement virtual diabetes GVs and promote accessible diabetes care. CI - Copyright (c) 2022 Nunez, Marino-Nunez, Staab, Dinh, Zhu, Wan, Schaefer, Campbell, Quinn and Baig. FAU - Nunez, Daisy AU - Nunez D AD - Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. FAU - Marino-Nunez, Diana AU - Marino-Nunez D AD - Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. FAU - Staab, Erin M AU - Staab EM AD - Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. FAU - Dinh, Tracy AU - Dinh T AD - Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. FAU - Zhu, Mengqi AU - Zhu M AD - Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. FAU - Wan, Wen AU - Wan W AD - Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. FAU - Schaefer, Cynthia T AU - Schaefer CT AD - Midwest Clinicians' Network, East Lansing, MI, United States. FAU - Campbell, Amanda AU - Campbell A AD - Midwest Clinicians' Network, East Lansing, MI, United States. FAU - Quinn, Michael T AU - Quinn MT AD - Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. FAU - Baig, Arshiya A AU - Baig AA AD - Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. LA - eng GR - P30 DK092949/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/United States PT - Journal Article DEP - 20221111 PL - Switzerland TA - Front Health Serv JT - Frontiers in health services JID - 9918334887706676 PMC - PMC10012803 OTO - NOTNLM OT - adaptation OT - diabetes education OT - group visits OT - health center OT - implementation OT - shared medical appointments OT - telehealth OT - virtual COIS- The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. EDAT- 2023/03/18 06:00 MHDA- 2023/03/18 06:01 PMCR- 2022/11/11 CRDT- 2023/03/17 02:39 PHST- 2022/06/03 00:00 [received] PHST- 2022/10/28 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2023/03/17 02:39 [entrez] PHST- 2023/03/18 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2023/03/18 06:01 [medline] PHST- 2022/11/11 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - 10.3389/frhs.2022.961073 [doi] PST - epublish SO - Front Health Serv. 2022 Nov 11;2:961073. doi: 10.3389/frhs.2022.961073. eCollection 2022.