By Shari Harding, Associate Professor of Nursing, UMass Chan Medical School
As a mental health nurse practitioner who sees patients both in person and via telehealth, I’m often struck by just how many of my patients would not have received any mental health treatment before the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, access to remote mental healthcare sprouted up almost overnight. In 2020, Medicare began covering online mental health, and most state Medicaid programs and private insurers soon followed.
Fewer than 2% of people getting mental health treatment received such care online in 2019, but now about half receive at least some of their mental healthcare this way. With so many choices, it can be hard to decide how to start accessing mental healthcare online.
Understand your goals. It helps to define what’s troubling you and what you’d like to change, and whether you’d prefer talk therapy, medication, or both. Any clinician you see will be able to evaluate your concerns and direct you to the right treatment plan.
Find a good fit. Clinicians typically list the types of problems they treat and whether they offer therapy, medication or both. If you plan to use insurance, confirm the clinician accepts your specific plan, and clarify policies on copays, missed visits and after-hours concerns before your first appointment.
Your first online session. Ensure you have a private, comfortable space, and expect the clinician to ask about your history and current concerns. After the first meeting or two, they should share a diagnosis and treatment plan, explaining how it works and the risks involved.
Future-proof your treatment plan. Regulations for online mental health services are still in flux. Many Medicare plans have committed to covering remote mental healthcare through December 2027. Pandemic-era rules permitting remote prescription of controlled substances are set to expire in December 2026, so ask your clinician how they’ll manage any changes.
No matter what kind of mental health treatment you receive, it’s essential to work as a team with your primary care provider and other clinicians, since many mental and physical health conditions have overlapping symptoms.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.