Telemental health via videoconferencing (TMH-V) allows care to be delivered in real-time to a patient’s home or other personal location and can increase access to vital mental health (MH) services. The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has long been a champion of telehealth given its mission to provide care to Veterans living in all regions of the US; indeed, VA was the first healthcare system to appoint a chief telehealth officer over twenty years ago. Following the advent of its telehealth-to-home platform, VA Video Connect, in 2017, VA set national goals aiming to increase the number of MH providers who had completed at least one TMH-V appointment by the end of 2019. Although usage rates did increase due to this initiative, it did not lead to a substantial shift towards remote care, due to factors such as patient and provider reticence as well as workflow challenges (e.g., difficulties adjusting to new scheduling processes).
Access the full journal article in Implementation Science Communications.
