The study, which pulled from insurance claims, mental health care provider surveys and electronic health records, found that 12.5% of adults received outpatient mental health care in 2021 — 73.6% received in-person care, 33.4% received care through a video visit and 21.4% received in audio-only care.
The study also identified a variety of social and economic barriers to effectively accessing telemental health services, including old age, unemployment, low-income and public insurance.
“Increasing our understanding of the patterns we observed in terms of access to outpatient mental health care including in-person, telephone-administered, and internet-administered outpatient mental health services could inform ongoing public policy discussions and clinical interventions,” researcher Mark Olfson, MD, said. “Identifying low-cost means of connecting lower-income patients to telemental health should be a priority, as well as increasing public investment to make access to high-speed broadband universal.”
At the Becker's Fall Behavioral Health Summit, taking place November 4–5 in Chicago, behavioral health leaders and executives will explore strategies for expanding access to care, integrating services, addressing workforce challenges and leveraging innovation to improve outcomes across the behavioral health continuum. Apply for complimentary registration now.
