American Hospital Association: Health Care Disruption An American Hospital Association (AHA) report examines seven of the biggest disruptors to enter the primary care space. Specifically, the report highlights Walmart's telemedicine work, which emphasizes convenience in making care appointments. Additionally, Walmart offers tele-behavioral health services.
Health Affairs: Many Clinicians Implement Digital Equity Strategies to Treat Opioid Use Disorder Maintaining access to care via telemedicine was critical for treating opioid use disorder (OUD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study found that in March 2022, 77 percent of clinician respondents reported implementing digital equity strategies, such as audio-only telehealth, to [...]
National Association for Behavioral Healthcare: Telehealth is Effectively Augmenting Traditional Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Programs The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) Education and Research Foundation and Manatt released an issue brief that highlights how telehealth services effectively augment traditional partial hospitalization programs (PHP) and intensive outpatient programs (IOP). Results from the [...]
Journal of Affective Disorders: Telehealth Likely as Effective as In-Person Care for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) A study found that a switch from in-person to virtual care did not appear to have a negative impact on the health of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) being treated in a partial-hospital setting. Patients with MDD who [...]
JAMA Network Open: Telemedicine Use and Quality of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment in the US During the COVID-19 Pandemic A study found that there were no significant differences in telemedicine and in-person opioid use disorder (OUD) care. This cohort study analyzed patients with OUD with commercial insurance or Medicare Advantage coverage. Results of [...]
Kaiser Family Foundation: Telehealth Delivery of Behavioral Health Care in Medicaid: Findings from a Survey of State Medicaid Programs Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) surveyed state Medicaid officials about policies and trends related to telehealth delivery of behavioral health services. The survey found that states most commonly reported adding audio-only telehealth coverage of behavioral [...]
JAMA Health Forum: Mental Health Service Utilization Rates Among Commercially Insured Adults in the US During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic This study found that the weekly rate of in-person mental health service utilization decreased by more than 50 percent after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic but concurrent increases in [...]
Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research: Sociodemographic Correlates of Affordable Community Behavioral Health Treatment Facility Availability in Florida: A Cross-Sectional Study This study assessed neighborhood-level sociodemographic attributes to characterize the availability of behavioral health treatment facilities in Florida. The study found that areas with greater proportion of non-Latino Black and Latino residents [...]
Community Mental Health Journal: Federally Qualified Health Centers Use of Telehealth to Deliver Integrated Behavioral Health Care During COVID-19 Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) transitioned to deliver care via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reviewed how FQHCs adopted integrated behavioral health (IBH) using telehealth. Nine interviews with FQHC administrators resulted in [...]
The Commonwealth Fund: State Telemedicine Coverage Requirements Continue to Evolve As telemedicine coverage requirements evolve, some states have begun to require coverage of audio-only telephone visits, exempt behavioral health care from limits on telephone visits, and protect patients’ access to their providers. This report from the Commonwealth Fund details state legislation enacted since [...]