Telemedicine for Mental Health Services Failing to Significantly Expand Rural Access

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By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Judith Stewart, BPharm. Last updated on March 11, 2026.

via HealthDay

WEDNESDAY, March 11, 2026 -- Greater telemedicine uptake among mental health specialists is associated with only small increases in the share of visits to patients in rural, low-access-to-care, or distant communities, according to a study published online March 5 in JAMA Network Open.

Jacob Jorem, M.D., J.D., from Harvard University in Boston, and colleagues examined the association between the proportion of mental health specialists' visits delivered via telemedicine and the share of visits among patients living in rural, low-access-to-care, or distant communities. The analysis included Medicare fee-for-service claims for mental health specialist services from 2018 through 2023 (17,742 mental health specialists).

The researchers found that compared with 2018 and specialists in the lowest telemedicine quartile, specialists with the highest telemedicine use had 0.88 percentage points more visits with rural patients in 2023. For the fraction of visits with patients living in mental health specialist shortage areas, in a different state from their specialist, and living 20 miles or more away from their specialist, similar small changes were seen. By 2023, specialists with higher telemedicine use visited differentially fewer new patients than those with lower use (−3.55 percentage points).

"The potential of telemedicine can't be ignored," coauthor Ateev Mehrotra, M.D., from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, said in a statement. "For telemedicine's potential to be reached, we need policy interventions to address those barriers. Improving how we license physicians is a critical first step."

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

Source: HealthDay

Posted : 2026-03-12 01:49

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