Telehealth is not improving access to help for patients with opioid use disorders, a new study has found.
Instead, use of telehealth is comparable to visits to providers’ offices when it comes to access.
According to the analysis,
Results of this study revealed that clinical outcomes were similar among patients who were treated by clinicians with high and low telemedicine use during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that telemedicine is a comparable alternative to in-person OUD care. There was no evidence that telemedicine was associated with increased access to or improved quality of OUD treatment.
Learn more from the JAMA Network Open article “Telemedicine Use and Quality of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment in the US During the COVID-19 Pandemic.”