Survey: Telehealth Facilitating Rise in Use of Mental Health Services During Pandemic

More than half of mental health practices surveyed by technology platform firm Kareo in June said that they have seen an increase in patient volume, fueled largely by the adoption of telehealth.

Of those surveyed, 97% of practices said that they now use telehealth to conduct patient visits. This compares to just 22% of practices in a previous Kareo who were using the technology in 2019. A strong majority—88%--of those surveyed in June said they expect to continue using telehealth post-pandemic.

Other findings from Kareo’s June survey:

• 67% of mental health practices expect a post-pandemic surge in patient volume
• 53% of mental health practices and 43% of other specialties believe pandemic-related changes to their practices will likely be permanent
• 27% of mental health practices have or are considering expanding their practice, while 29% are changing (or are considering changing) their practice model to a concierge or other model