SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Reliability of Inpatient Telehealth Physical and Occupational Therapy Assessments During the Covid-19 Pandemic

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This study examined whether inpatient physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) discharge recommendations made through telehealth matched later in-person evaluations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because social distancing limited bedside assessments, many hospitals shifted PT and OT evaluations to virtual models.<br /><br />Researchers reviewed 195 patients who first received telehealth therapy assessments; 104 of these later had in-person follow-up evaluations. Telehealth assessments included chart review, bedside nurse input, and interviews with the patient or representative by telephone. The team compared telehealth and in-person discharge recommendations using Cohen’s kappa.<br /><br />Results showed moderate agreement for general discharge level of care, meaning whether a patient should go home or to post-acute care. For PT, agreement was 70.2% (kappa 0.25). For OT, agreement was 61.5% (kappa 0.22). Agreement was lower when comparing exact discharge destination categories: PT had 42.3% agreement (kappa 0.24), and OT had 44.2% (kappa 0.21). All results were statistically significant.<br /><br />The authors noted that therapists had broad experience levels, suggesting the findings were not due to inexperience. Overall, the study suggests that inpatient telehealth PT and OT assessments may be feasible for making initial discharge recommendations, especially for the broader decision of home versus post-acute care.

Asset Subtitle

Maylyn S. Martinez

Meta Tag

Author List Ann Eisses, Antonia Suszek, Cheryl Esbrook, Lauren Greer, Marla R. Robinson, Maylyn S. Martinez, Megan Teele, Micah T. Prochaska

Category Research

Concept Discharge Planning

Concept Physical Therapy

Concept Occupational Therapy

Concept Telehealth

Concept AM-PAC Mobility Score

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization University of Chicago

Presenting Author Maylyn S. Martinez

Track Technology in Hospital Medicine

Keywords

telehealth

inpatient physical therapy

occupational therapy

discharge recommendations

COVID-19 pandemic

in-person evaluation

Cohen's kappa

post-acute care

virtual assessment

hospital discharge planning

Discharge Planning

Physical Therapy

Occupational Therapy

Telehealth

AM-PAC Mobility Score