Rates of Primary Care and Integrated Mental Health Telemedicine Visits Between Rural and Urban Veterans Affairs Beneficiaries Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic

JAMA Network Open: Rates of Primary Care and Integrated Mental Health Telemedicine Visits Between Rural and Urban Veterans Affairs Beneficiaries Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic

A study in JAMA Network Open tracking telemedicine visits pre- and post-pandemic across the VA reveals increasing inequities between rural and urban communities. Before the pandemic, 34 percent of rural VA health care systems used telemedicine for primary care services compared to a 30 percent use in urban areas. However, after the onset of the pandemic only 55 percent of rural systems used telehealth for primacy care, compared with 61 percent in urban areas. This study suggests that, despite a coordinated federal response, there is a rural-urban digital divide after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in mental health integration services.