The impact of increased telehealth use on the treatment of substance use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic

IF 3.6 2区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Ssm-Population Health Pub Date : 2025-03-14 DOI:10.1016/j.ssmph.2025.101780

Fares Qeadan , Sydney Shimizu , Benjamin Tingey , Philip J. Kroth , Talar Markossian

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a shift from in-person substance use disorder (SUD) treatment to virtual telehealth (TH) visits, creating opportunities to assess the impact of virtual visits on SUD treatment.

Methods

This study utilized retrospective, de-identified, electronic health record (EHR) data from Oracle EHR Real-World Data to examine the impact of TH on SUD treatment. Patients with a qualifying SUD diagnosis from 141 U.S. health systems were included and divided into pre-TH (January 1, 2017 through January 1, 2019) and COVID (January 1, 2020 through January 1, 2022) cohorts. This study analyzed TH utilization, medications for SUD (MSUD) prescribing, drug-related events, and mental health crises, comparing patient outcomes where the treating clinician was a high TH user versus a low TH user in both pre-COVID and COVID periods.

Results

Patients visiting high TH clinicians had lower MSUD prescribing rates, yet a higher MSUD day's supply, and higher rates of TH outpatient visits than those visiting low TH providers, with both groups having an increase in TH visits during the COVID period. Patients with high TH clinicians had lower rates of SUD-related hospitalizations than those with low TH providers but similar rates of drug overdoses, relapses, injection-related infections, and mental health crises.

Conclusions

TH modalities showed increased SUD-related outpatient visits without increasing adverse outcomes, indicating its potential as a sustainable alternative to in-person care. This study highlights the need for further research on TH efficacy for SUD-specific populations and supports the continued integration of telehealth in SUD treatment post-pandemic.

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来源期刊

Ssm-Population Health PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

6.50

自引率

2.10%

发文量

298

审稿时长

101 days

期刊介绍： SSM - Population Health. The new online only, open access, peer reviewed journal in all areas relating Social Science research to population health. SSM - Population Health shares the same Editors-in Chief and general approach to manuscripts as its sister journal, Social Science & Medicine. The journal takes a broad approach to the field especially welcoming interdisciplinary papers from across the Social Sciences and allied areas. SSM - Population Health offers an alternative outlet for work which might not be considered, or is classed as ''out of scope'' elsewhere, and prioritizes fast peer review and publication to the benefit of authors and readers. The journal welcomes all types of paper from traditional primary research articles, replication studies, short communications, methodological studies, instrument validation, opinion pieces, literature reviews, etc. SSM - Population Health also offers the opportunity to publish special issues or sections to reflect current interest and research in topical or developing areas. The journal fully supports authors wanting to present their research in an innovative fashion though the use of multimedia formats.