Disparities in routine healthcare utilization disruptions during COVID-19 pandemic among veterans with type 2 diabetes

Background While emerging studies suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions in routine healthcare utilization, the full impact of the pandemic on healthcare utilization among diverse group of patients with type 2 diabetes is unclear. The purpose of this study is to examine trends in healthcare utilization, including in-person and telehealth visits, among U.S. veterans with type 2 diabetes before, during and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, by demographics, pre-pandemic glycemic control, and geographic region. Methods We longitudinally examined healthcare utilization in a large national cohort of veterans with new diabetes diagnoses between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2018. The analytic sample was 733,006 veterans with recently-diagnosed diabetes, at least 1 encounter with veterans administration between March 2018–2020, and followed through March 2021. Monthly rates of glycohemoglobin (HbA1c) measurements, in-person and telehealth outpatient visits, and prescription fills for diabetes and hypertension medications were compared before and after March 2020 using interrupted time-series design. Log-linear regression model was used for statistical analysis. Secular trends were modeled with penalized cubic splines. Results In the initial 3 months after the pandemic onset, we observed large reductions in monthly rates of HbA1c measurements, from 130 (95%CI,110–140) to 50 (95%CI,30–80) per 1000 veterans, and in-person outpatient visits, from 1830 (95%CI,1640–2040) to 810 (95%CI,710–930) per 1000 veterans. However, monthly rates of telehealth visits doubled between March 2020–2021 from 330 (95%CI,310–350) to 770 (95%CI,720–820) per 1000 veterans. This pattern of increases in telehealth utilization varied by community type, with lowest increase in rural areas, and by race/ethnicity, with highest increase among non-hispanic Black veterans. Combined in-person and telehealth outpatient visits rebounded to pre-pandemic levels after 3 months. Despite notable changes in HbA1c measurements and visits during that initial window, we observed no changes in prescription fills rates. Conclusions Healthcare utilization among veterans with diabetes was substantially disrupted at the onset of the pandemic, but rebounded after 3 months. There was disparity in uptake of telehealth visits by geography and race/ethnicity.