# Understanding the Impact of Technology Access and Digital Literacy on Post-Discharge Care and Hospital Readmissions in Adults with Cardiovascular Disease

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2021 · $80,750

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 This R03 award will extend the scope of a parent K23 award to help establish Dr. Oanh Nguyen as a
clinician-investigator focused on designing, implementing, and evaluating novel transitional care interventions
that address social vulnerabilities in tandem with medical needs to improve health outcomes for vulnerable
patients with cardiovascular illness. This award will enable her to extend the scope of her parent K23 work on
understanding how social vulnerabilities affect post-discharge care to also encompass understanding the role
of limited technology access and digital literacy as social vulnerabilities that may exacerbate already-existing
disparities in congestive heart failure (CHF) and ischemic heart disease (IHD) readmissions and post-
discharge care. As post-hospitalization care delivery has shifted to telehealth due to the unprecedented
COVID-19 pandemic, an increasingly important but underrecognized social need is limited access and use of
telehealth among underserved populations. The recent rapid, seismic shift to telehealth has taken place
without attention to barriers and facilitators to telehealth among patients in safety-net health systems across
the U.S. Individuals from low-income and minority backgrounds are already less likely to follow up with needed
outpatient care at discharge, and these disparities are likely worsen with the in outpatient care delivery to
telehealth, since low-income individuals are also less likely to use telehealth than other patient subgroups and
thus will be even less likely to receive critical post-discharge outpatient follow-up. Although technology access
and digital literacy are foundational to using telehealth, the prevalence of technology access and digital literacy
among hospitalized patients; how limited technology access and digital literacy affects post-discharge
care/recovery; and patient-perceived barriers and enablers to telehealth use among underserved adults
hospitalized for CHF and IHD is unknown.
 Informed by her clinical experience and preliminary studies, and using the COM-B model for behavioral
change as a conceptual framework, Dr. Nguyen will conduct a series of studies to: 1) develop and conduct a
prospective survey study to understand the prevalence of technology access and digital literacy, and attitudes
to telehealth among hospitalized adults with CHF and IHD (Aim 1), and 2) understand patient perceptions on
how technology access and digital literacy affect post-discharge care and recovery, and patient-perceived
barriers and enablers to telehealth (Aim 2). These findings along with those from her parent K23 will form the
basis for an R01 application for a fully powered randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of a hospital-
based, personalized, and patient-centered intervention to improve care transitions and prevent readmissions
by improving equity in post-discharge care and access and use of telehealth among other social vulnerabilities
in underserved ad...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10215196
- **Project number:** 1R03HL157931-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Oanh Kieu Nguyen
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $80,750
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-10 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10215196

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10215196, Understanding the Impact of Technology Access and Digital Literacy on Post-Discharge Care and Hospital Readmissions in Adults with Cardiovascular Disease (1R03HL157931-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10215196. Licensed CC0.

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