Approximately one-third of patients receiving behavioral health services such as therapy or medication visits reported that their clinicians did not offer both telehealth and in-person care, according to a study conducted by Rand Corp. and published in Health Affairs.
The study pulled data from a survey of 2,071 U.S. adults, identifying 571 who used behavioral health services in the prior year. It also includes interviews with 26 people with bipolar disorder or depression conducted in February and March, according to an email release shared with Becker's.
The study found that 32 percent of behavioral health patients did not typically receive their preferred modality, while 45 percent reported that they did not believe their clinician considered their modality preferences when deciding the visit type.
The study identified the rise of telehealth through the COVID-19 pandemic due to payers beginning to reimburse for these services as a contributing factor to the limited modality, with behavioral health providers switching to telehealth-only models partly due to its lifestyle and productivity advantages.
A total of 22 percent of therapy recipients reported that their clinician offered only telehealth, while 20 percent receiving medication said their clinician offered only in-person visits.
The study also found that many of the patients interviewed reported that they generally preferred in-person care for therapy visits and the majority of participants said they wanted clinicians to offer both telehealth and in-person visit options, regardless of personal preference.