In the rush to ensure a degree of business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems around the world have adopted telehealth at a speed and depth never seen before. All manner of services have begun to be offered via video conferencing platforms. While the general feedback from practitioners and patient alike has been positive, it hasn’t been a universal success.
A new study from Rutgers explores how therapists, and their patients, have responded to the adoption of telehealth. The researchers quizzed a few hundred therapists from New York on the challenges they faced maintaining good quality services remotely during the early months of the pandemic.
“Understanding this impact is particularly important as these services support vulnerable populations that may be at higher risk for coronavirus infection as well as other negative consequences,” the researchers say.
Maintaining patient care
The therapists revealed that the lack of in-person consultations made engagement with clients and assessments that bit harder, with some clients unwilling to engage via video. It also proved harder to get clients to keep appointments virtually than in person, while medication monitoring (and obviously administration) were also more challenging.
The mass adoption of telehealth has also underlined the digital divide that has cut many people with lower socioeconomic resources off from service. Supply challenges have also existed for people in rural areas who often lack sufficient technical infrastructure, and also disabled clients. The researchers cite data showing that disabled people were three times more likely to never go online, and 20% more likely to not own electronic devices.
The researchers believe that while telehealth can help to improve access to services, especially in areas where physical premises do not exist, these challenges must be tackled to ensure people don’t fall through the cracks.
An uneasy transition
The study also found that the transition to telehealth was far from straightforward, with many therapists reporting a fall in income due to the reduction in services, while also incurring additional expenses to procure personal protective equipment. There were also challenges in terms of reimbursement for remote services.
There was also a rapid and steep learning curve for staff to familiarize themselves with the new technology, with many reporting frustrations with the various technical issues they encountered, particularly around a lack of access to HIPAA-compliant platforms.
While there has been general optimism about the potential for telehealth to take hold in ways it has never previously managed, it’s also clear that various hurdles still stand in the way.
