Primary care
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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for behavioral health care services. A substantial portion of mental health care transitioned to virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic, remains virtual today, and will continue that way in the future. Mental health needs continue to grow, and there has been growing evidence showing the efficacy of virtual health for behavioral health conditions at the system, provider, and patient level. There is also a growing understanding of the barriers and challenges to virtual behavioral health care.
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Telehealth programs existed in many subspecialities before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the public health event motivated many subspecialties to reflect on how current technologies could be leveraged to benefit patient outcomes and increase health-care access. This article reviews the history and current state of telehealth access in many areas of subspecialty care. Primary care physicians (PCPs) may be unaware of the telehealth services and options local subspecialists offer. To best serve patients, PCPs could partner with subspecialists to develop processes to link patients to the right subspecialist at the right time and in the right visit type.
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Remote patient monitoring programs collect and analyze a variety of health-related data to detect clinical deterioration with the goal of early intervention. There are many program designs with various deployed devices, monitoring schemes, and escalation protocols. ⋯ Remote patient monitoring is used both in chronic disease states and patients with acute self-limited conditions. These programs use health-related data to identify early deterioration and then successfully intervene to improve clinical outcomes and decrease costs of care.