An independent research team based at Providence St. Joseph Health’s Portland campus has launched three projects aimed at improving care for COVID-19 patients and identifying long-term impacts of the pandemic.
The CORE research team is examining several distinct areas: effectiveness of telehealth home monitoring of COVID-19 patients; the impacts of reductions in health care services during the pandemic; and strategies to better understand disparities in the pandemic’s impact among Providence’s patient population across seven states.
The Center for Outcomes Research and Education (CORE) is leading the projects, with funding and donor support from Providence St. Joseph Health Foundation and Providence Foundations of Oregon.
At CORE we strive to understand complex factors at the root of community health and use that knowledge to drive real-world improvements in health and health equity. This research will look through that lens to explore long- and short-term impacts of the pandemic, and specific strategies that can lead to better health for those affected by COVID-19.
An overview of the three COVID-19 projects includes:
Project 1: Telehealth home monitoring
This project measures the effectiveness of telehealth home monitoring to treat COVID-19 patients. Key factors in this study include: frequency of telehealth visits, patient outcomes with telehealth, and health care use and costs. Results will help identify the impact of telehealth home monitoring of COVID-19 patients, both in patient health outcomes and costs, and will shape telehealth response to COVID-19 and future telehealth strategies.
Project 2: Impact of deferred health care
This research examines the impacts of delayed health care as a result of COVID-19. The project examines: how much and what types of care are being deferred, what types and how often health care services are resuming, and what results occur from delayed health care. Findings will be used to help communities and health systems prepare for and address the effects of delayed care.
Project 3: Health disparities
This project seeks to identify and understand potential disparities in COVID-19 testing, infection rates, and outcomes among patients across Providence’s seven-state health system. Results will be used to inform recommendations on how health systems can reduce COVID-19 health care disparities among underserved populations. CORE is partnering with community stakeholders and researchers to help guide and inform this work.
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CORE is an independent team of 30 researchers – located on the Providence Portland Medical Center campus – that examines how systems, policies, social determinants, and health care delivery shape the health of individuals and communities.
CORE also is a member of Providence’s newly formed Health Services Research Council, which helps prioritize and support research across the Providence system to leverage data that will improve COVID-19 strategies.
Authored by:
Keri Vartanian, Ph.D., director, Center for Outcomes Research and Education, Providence
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