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Addressing high-utilizers of virtual urgent care through an EHR clinical decision support nudge

delete2026-06-17
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PRE
AI
J
Jared Silberlust
B
Brian Roberts
V
Victoria Leybov
A
Alexander Tran
N
Nicholas Genes
DOI:10.1177/1357633x261457773delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
<jats:p> Virtual urgent care (VUC) has become an increasingly utilized resource for acute care delivery. Frequent utilization of VUC may reflect unmet longitudinal care needs and contribute to fragmented care. While high-utilizer patterns are well described in emergency departments, they have not been systematically characterized in telemedicine. We evaluated a clinical decision support (CDS) nudge designed to identify and address high utilizers of VUC at a large academic health system. An electronic health record alert triggered when patients met predefined high-utilizer criteria (&gt;3 visits in 30 days, &gt;12 in six months, or &gt;20 in 12 months) and prompted providers to document a structured follow-up plan using a SmartPhrase. Among 473 eligible patients, 162 (34%) received the SmartPhrase. After adjustment for baseline utilization using negative binomial regression, SmartPhrase use was associated with a 22% relative reduction in VUC visits over the subsequent 30 days (incidence rate ratio 0.78, <jats:italic toggle="yes">p</jats:italic>  = .03). Bootstrapped analyses confirmed a significant reduction in the SmartPhrase group (−1.47 visits; 95% CI [−2.19 to −0.62]), while no significant change occurred in the comparison group. These findings suggest that a low-cost, workflow-integrated CDS nudge may reduce short-term telehealth overutilization by prompting structured follow-up discussions and encouraging longitudinal care planning. </jats:p>

Journal

Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare cover
Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare
IF:
3.2
Papers:
3.0K
Citations:
5.5K

Organization

N
nyu langone health
Scholars:
698
Papers: 281
Citations: 1
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