BMC Medicine: Telehealth in Antenatal Care  This narrative review examines the impact of telehealth on obstetric care. The review found that adoption of telehealth technologies may improve the antenatal care experience for women and reduce health care expenditure without adversely impacting health outcomes for the mother or baby. Health economic studies also suggest telehealth has the potential to reduce the financial cost of care provision.

JAMA Health Forum: Telehealth and In-Person Mental Health Service Utilization and Spending, 2019 to 2022  Trends in mental health service utilization and spending before expiration of the public health emergency (PHE) in May 2023 are largely undocumented. Researchers assessed monthly telehealth vs in-person utilization and spending rates for mental health services among commercially insured US adults between 2019 and 2022. The study found that utilization and spending rates for mental health care services among commercially insured adults increased by 38.8 percent and 53.7 percent, respectively, between 2019 and 2022. These findings suggest that telehealth utilization for mental health services remains persistent and elevated. See RAND [...]

Software Advice: 95 Percent of Patients Say Telehealth is Easiest Way to Access Health Services Software Advice, an information services company, conducted a survey in which 95 percent of participating patients reported telehealth to be the easiest option when seeking a diagnosis. Additionally, 67 percent of the respondents rated the process as "extremely easy." Software Advice labels telemedicine as "one of the most valuable tools available" that independent practices could implement. For additional coverage, see Becker's Hospital Review.

JAMA Network Open: Telemedicine Visits in US Skilled Nursing Facilities  Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in the United States rapidly adopted telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was linked to improved access to psychiatry visits. Researchers found that, compared with 2018-2019, SNFs with high telehealth use in 2020-2021 provided about 20.2 percent more psychiatry visits per resident year than low-use SNFs. High-telehealth use SNFs also provided approximately 7.2 percent more outpatient visits for residents with limited mobility. Further, SNFs with high telehealth use had fewer routine visits on weekends and no difference in new outpatient visits with specialist physicians compared with low-telehealth use [...]