Virtual Mental Health Care Tied to Fewer Psychotherapy Disruptions

TUESDAY, Oct. 17, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Adoption of virtual psychotherapy technology led to fewer disruptions to care than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online Oct. 11 in Psychiatric Services.

Brian K. Ahmedani, Ph.D., from Henry Ford Health in Detroit, and colleagues used electronic health record and insurance claims data from three U.S. health systems to examine disruption in psychotherapy before and after the rapid shift to virtual mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis included data from 110,089 patients with mental health conditions and at least two psychotherapy visits from June 14, 2019, through Dec. 15, 2020.

The researchers found that visits in the prepandemic period were almost exclusively in person (97 percent), whereas more than half of visits during the pandemic period were virtual (52 percent). A disruption occurred in approximately 35 percent of psychotherapy visits in the prepandemic period versus 18 percent in the pandemic period. When adjusting for visit, mental health, and sociodemographic factors, disruption continued to be less common (adjusted odds ratio, 0.45) during the pandemic period. Across sociodemographic characteristics, the magnitude of the difference in disruption between periods was homogeneous but was heterogeneous across psychiatric diagnoses.

"These data support the continued availability of virtual psychotherapy," the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text