Evaluating Effects of Virtual Diabetes Group Visits in Community Health Centers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the US. Diabetes group visits (GVs), which include group education and individual medical visits have been shown to improve clinical outcomes. However, few studies have evaluated virtual GVs. We conducted a single-arm pilot study to test the impact of virtual diabetes GVs in Midwestern community health centers (CHCs). Adult patients with diabetes participated in monthly virtual GVs for 6 months. Surveys and chart abstraction were used to assess patient-reported and clinical outcomes. Five CHCs implemented virtual GVs with 34 patients attending at least one session. Virtual GVs show promise as evidenced by these findings: (1) Patients had a nonsignificant decrease in A1C. (2) In the subgroup of patients with baseline A1C ≥ 9%, there was a significant decrease in A1C. (3) Patients had significant increases in diabetes knowledge and support as well as a decrease in diabetes distress. Future studies with a larger sample size and a control comparison group are needed to assess the impact of virtual GVs on patient outcomes.