North STAR Trial: Specialty Telemedicine Access for Referrals in Rural Alaska

North STAR 试验：阿拉斯加农村地区的转诊专业远程医疗服务

• 批准号: 10616296
• 负责人: Denise A Dillard
• 金额: $ 50.43万
• 依托单位: UNIV OF ARKANSAS FOR MED SCIS
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-17 至 2026-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10616296
• 关键词: North; STAR; Trial; Specialty; Telemedicine

ABSTRACT Rural Alaska Native children experience a high prevalence of preventable childhood hearing loss. School-based programs provide the only access to preventive services for many underserved rural and minority children, yet loss to follow-up from school hearing screening is common and scarcity of specialists in rural areas compound barriers to care. The Alaska Tribal Health System addresses geographic barriers to care with a telehealth network, but the network is not used for school hearing screening and is only available in Tribal regions. This proposal brings a novel telehealth model directly into schools to reach underserved rural and minority children across the state of Alaska, including non-Tribal regions. The overall objective is to prospectively implement and evaluate a new virtual specialty care model in Alaska schools to reduce loss to follow-up from school hearing screening and improve access to specialty care in rural environments. This work builds on the team’s recent PCORI-funded cluster-randomized trial that translated Alaska’s existing Tribal telehealth network in village clinics to a prevention model for school hearing screening referrals. Children randomized to clinic- based telemedicine specialty referral were 2.3 (95% CI 1.4, 3.8) times more likely to receive an ear/hearing diagnosis than those receiving the standard referral of a letter home. Success of the clinic-based intervention varied substantially between communities; stakeholder interviews revealed implementation challenges that could be addressed by delivering telehealth directly in schools. The current proposal will establish a unique model of care in Tribal and non-Tribal regions across the state, bringing virtual specialty care directly into schools. Three accomplished and complementary multi-PIs, who collaborated on PCORI- and NIDCD-funded studies in rural Alaska, will lead an interdisciplinary team, and an Alaska Stakeholder Team that includes Alaska Commissioners for Education and Health and Social Services will guide study development. In Aim 1, the team will develop and pilot an implementation protocol for school-based virtual specialty care for hearing loss through focus groups and interviews with community stakeholders. In Aim 2, they will conduct a stepped wedge, cluster-randomized implementation trial of virtual specialty care in three representative regions (n=31 schools; 2,008 children). The primary outcome is proportion of hearing referrals resulting in specialty follow-up within two months of screening date. The conservative hypothesis, based on PCORI trial data, is that virtual specialty care will improve follow- up by 100%. In Aim 3, the team will evaluate sustainability of virtual specialty care in Alaska schools through a policy analysis to assess alignment between health and education sectors, identify policy and practice barriers and accelerators, and ascertain payment models for future programmatic financing. This school-based telehealth model to address preventable childhood hearing loss could be translated to other underserved rural and minority groups, bringing high-value services into rural schools to alter the paradigm of prevention nationwide.

抽象的 阿拉斯加农村的原住民儿童经历了可预防的童年听力损失的较高流行率。以学校为基础 计划为许多服务不足的农村和少数民族儿童提供了预防服务的唯一访问权限 学校听力筛查的损失很普遍，并且在农村地区的专家稀缺 护理障碍。阿拉斯加部落卫生系统涉及远程医疗护理的地理障碍 网络，但是网络不用于学校听力筛查，仅在部落地区可用。这 提案将一种新颖的远程医疗模式直接带入学校，以吸引服务不足的农村和少数民族儿童 在整个阿拉斯加州，包括非部落地区。总体目标是前瞻性实施 并评估阿拉斯加学校的新虚拟专业护理模型，以减少学校的损失 听力筛查并改善在粗糙环境中获得专业护理的机会。这项工作建立在 团队最近由PCORI资助的集群随机试验翻译了阿拉斯加现有的部落远程医疗网络 在乡村诊所进行预防模型进行学校听力筛查推荐。儿童随机到诊所 - 基于远程医疗的专业推荐是2.3（95％CI 1.4，3.8），接受耳/听证会的可能性高于 诊断比接受信件家的标准转介的诊断。基于诊所干预的成功 在社区之间有很大的不同；利益相关者访谈揭示了实施挑战 可以通过直接在学校提供远程医疗来解决。当前的建议将建立一个独特的模型 全州部落和非部落地区的护理，将虚拟专业护理直接带入学校。三 成就且补充的多PIS，他在农村的PCORI-和NIDCD资助的研究中合作 阿拉斯加将领导一个跨学科团队和一个包括阿拉斯加专员在内的阿拉斯加利益相关者团队 用于教育，卫生和社会服务将指导研究发展。在AIM 1中，团队将发展和 通过焦点小组通过学校基于学校的虚拟专业护理进行听力损失的实施方案 以及社区利益相关者的访谈。在AIM 2中，他们将进行阶梯楔形，群集随机 在三个代表区域（n = 31所学校； 2,008名儿童）的虚拟专业护理的实施试验。 主要结果是听证转介的比例，导致在筛查的两个月内进行专业随访 日期。基于PCORI试验数据的保守假设是，虚拟专业护理将改善后续 提高100％。在AIM 3中，团队将通过A来评估阿拉斯加学校虚拟专业护理的可持续性 政策分析以评估健康和教育部门之间的一致性，确定政策和实践障碍 以及加速器，并确定未来计划融资的付款模型。这个基于学校的远程医疗 解决可预防的童年听力损失的模型可以转化为其他服务不足的农村和少数民族 小组将高价值服务带入农村学校，以改变全国预防范围。