Implementing remote triage in large health systems: A qualitative evidence synthesis.

Lewinski AA, Rushton S, Van Voorhees E, Boggan JC, Whited JD, Shoup JP, Tabriz AA, Adam S, Fulton J, Gordon AM, Ear B, Williams JW, Goldstein KM, Van Noord MG, Gierisch JM. Implementing remote triage in large health systems: A qualitative evidence synthesis. Research in nursing & health. 2021 Feb 1; 44(1):138-154.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

• CDA 13-263 – Peer Support for Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in Female Veterans
• NRI 18-234 – Tailored Approaches to Reduce Distress and Improve Self-Management for Veterans with Diabetes (TARDIS)

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions

Search for Abstract from PubMed

---

Abstract:

Remote triage (RT) allows interprofessional teams (e.g., nurses and physicians) to assess patients and make clinical decisions remotely. RT use has developed widespread interest due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has future potential to address the needs of a rapidly aging population, improve access to care, facilitate interprofessional team care, and ensure appropriate use of resources. However, despite rapid and increasing interest in implementation of RT, there is little research concerning practices for successful implementation. We conducted a systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis of practices that impact the implementation of RT for adults seeking clinical care advice. We searched MEDLINE®, EMBASE, and CINAHL from inception through July 2018. We included 32 studies in this review. Our review identified four themes impacting the implementation of RT: characteristics of staff who use RT, influence of RT on staff, considerations in selecting RT tools, and environmental and contextual factors impacting RT. The findings of our systemic review underscore the need for a careful consideration of (a) organizational and stakeholder buy-in before launch, (b) physical and psychological workplace environment, (c) staff training and ongoing support, and (d) optimal metrics to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of implementation. Our findings indicate that preimplementation planning, as well as evaluating RT by collecting data during and after implementation, is essential to ensuring successful implementation and continued adoption of RT in a health care system.