Telehealth has permanent place in mental health treatment post-pandemic, providers say

Medical Xpress May 3, 2021
Sarah Szilagy

After a year of talking with patients via Zoom, phone and sometimes FaceTime, some central Ohio mental health providers are confident that telemedicine is here to stay, even after the pandemic goes away.

Kristen Carpenter, director of ambulatory services at Ohio State Harding Hospital, said the hospital did some telehealth services before the pandemic, but it mostly was used to connect different emergency rooms and to provide emergency psychiatric care. But with COVID-19, the hospital went from providing “almost 100% in-person care to almost 100% care via telehealth” almost immediately, she said.

Now, with about 90% of Harding’s outpatient care still provided via telehealth, Carpenter said she foresees a future where patients can choose how they’d like to receive their...

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