Annals of Internal Medicine: Trends in Psychological Distress and Outpatient Mental Health Care of Adults During the COVID-19 Era Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons conducted a study, which found that the rate of those with “serious psychological distress” received outpatient mental health at a diminished rate. Several groups also had difficulty accessing telemental health care including, older individuals and those with lower incomes and less education. These patterns underscore critical challenges to extend the reach and access of telemental health services via easy-to-use and affordable service options. [...]

BMC Psychiatry: Changes in Mental Health Services in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic A shift to telecommunication technologies had a significant impact on patients and care providers’ experiences of mental health care. This review aimed to identify changes in mental health services for patients in response to the pandemic and understand the impact of the changes on patients and providers. Improvements to care access, flexibility, remote forms of care delivery and lengths of operating service hours emerged as crucial changes, which supported accessibility to mental health services, increased attendance and reduced dropouts from care. Telehealth in mental care could [...]

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Telemedicine Use Among Physicians by Physician Specialty: United States, 2021 A CDC study found that primary care and medical specialists were more likely to be satisfied with telemedicine technology compared with surgical specialists. More medical specialists (27.4 percent) used telemedicine for 50 percent of their patient visits or more than primary care physicians and surgical specialists. Most primary care physicians (76.7 percent) and medical specialists (73.1 percent) were able to provide a similar quality of care during telemedicine visits as in-person visits “to some extent or a great extent” compared with about [...]

Atrium Health: Atrium Health Extends Reach with Virtual Care to Improve Health Atrium Health had a head start on leveraging virtual care tools to streamline care when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In its report, Atrium detail how they’ve developed more than 30 virtual programs that streamline access to care, reduce wait times and improve the patient experience. These programs have expanded throughout the medical system to hospitals, schools, community clinics, in-home and on-demand services as well as urgent and primary care settings throughout the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama and beyond.