Public Health Commons^™

Effectiveness Of Telemedicine In Diabetes Management: A Retrospective Study In An Urban Medically Underserved Population Area (Umupa), Lisa Ariellah Ward, Gulzar H. Shah, Jeffery A. Jones, Linda Kimsey, Hani M. Samawi

Department of Health Policy and Community Health Faculty Publications

This paper examines the efficacy of telemedicine (TM) technology compared to traditional face-to-face (F2F) visits as an alternative healthcare delivery service for managing diabetes in populations residing in urban medically underserved areas (UMUPAs). Retrospective electronic patient health records (ePHR) with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were examined from 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2021. Multiple linear regression models indicated that T2DM patients with uncontrolled diabetes utilizing TM were similar to traditional visits in lowering hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. The healthcare service type significantly predicted HbA1c % values, as the regression coefficient for TM (vs. F2F) showed a significant negative association …

Local Health Departments’ Activities To Address Health Disparities And Inequities: Are We Moving In The Right Direction?, Gulzar H. Shah, John P. Sheahan

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

Context: Health disparities are among the critical public health challenges.

Objectives: To analyze the extent to which local health departments (LHDs) perform activities for addressing health disparities, changes in proportion of LHDs’ performing those activities since 2005, and factors associated with variation in such engagement.

Methods: We used the 2013 National Profile of LHDs Survey to perform Logistic Regression of activities LHDs performed to address health disparities.

Results: About 20 percent of LHDs did not perform any activity to address health disparities. Significant decreases occurred since 2005 in the proportion of LHDs that performed health disparity reduction/elimination activities for four …