A quality improvement project assessing veteran outpatient and provider attitudes about telemental health two years into the pandemic.

Abstract

This project was an evaluation of visit data and patient and provider attitudes about telemental health in an outpatient mental health clinic for military veterans 2 years into the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of a quality improvement initiative over a 2-week period that occurred 2 years after the clinic converted all operations to virtual format, 168 unique individuals (across 149 eligible telehealth appointments) and 23 mental health treatment providers who were part of a multidisciplinary team were eligible to complete an anonymous self-report satisfaction survey immediately after a telehealth session. Compared with the 8-week period pre-COVID-19 closure, during the current 2-week quality improvement period, the majority of mental health visits (99% vs. 1% preclosure) were being conducted via telehealth with a similar no-show rate for individual treatment sessions (12% vs. 15% preclosure). Over half of patients expressed preference for continued telehealth visits, while another third expressed preference for a combination of in-person and telehealth appointments. Ninety-five percent of clients and 100% of clinicians reported that they were "quite a bit" or "extremely" satisfied with telehealth in terms of addressing the client's questions and concerns, suggesting high rates of satisfaction. Compared with the initial quality improvement period in the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shift in attitudes with fewer people expressing interest in returning to in-person treatment and more patients requesting telehealth appointments for future. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).