Surveys show that 2 in 3 addiction treatment providers who adopted telehealth in response to the pandemic will maintain a telehealth presence after the pandemic wanes. Why?
Because the numbers back it up. And because it is becoming increasingly clear that telehealth is the future of medicine.
Consider this: More than 92% of Americans attended a telehealth appointment in 2020. Telehealth is that popular. If you believe this massive shift won’t affect how addiction treatment is conducted in this country, you are sorely mistaken.
Today, let’s dive into what the data says about “virtual rehab” and telehealth for addiction treatment and learn why it’s here to stay.
Without a Digital-First Approach, Addiction Treatment Centers Struggled to Survive the Pandemic
As the pandemic swept through the United States in 2020, most residential treatment centers stayed open. In order to do so, however, they had to slash patient caseloads in order to maintain appropriate social distancing and provide space for residents to quarantine when necessary.
This meant that treatment centers were operating with the same overhead costs - and lower overall patient revenue. While the economic impact of this change was varied, overall, the addiction treatment community saw a dip of 30% to 50% in revenue in 2020. With losses that high, it’s not surprising that a significant number of centers didn’t survive to see the end of the pandemic at all.
A Telehealth-First Approach Leads to More Addiction Treatment Program Participation Overall
Studies have shown that telehealth-related searches and telehealth engagement in the addiction treatment space are up 1900% since 2019. That’s an astronomical increase, which, in part, is explained by the pandemic.
However, dig deeper and you’ll see that it’s likely also driven by a real patient need for more accessible care.
We’ve known since before the pandemic ever started that telehealth had promise for addiction treatment. Before COVID began, the addiction treatment community often referred to “barriers to treatment.” These barriers are often logistical things like: childcare, work, elder care, transportation, school, etc. We’ve known for some time that rural communities, in particular, struggle to access adequate addiction treatment services. Because veterans are overrepresented in rural communities, this meant veteran’s behavioral healthcare suffered, too.
An outpatient approach delivered in a telehealth setting closed many of these accessibility gaps for would-be patients. Not only are digital-first addiction treatment providers reaching more patients, they are actually seeing better outcomes for patients who enroll in telehealth programs, as well.
Studies are Beginning to Show That Telehealth Actually Improves Outcomes Data for Addiction Treatment Centers
Researchers began looking into the potential of telehealth’s positive impact on outcomes data well before the pandemic began.
A pre-pandemic study conducted at Yale involved 137 people with SUD. They divided participants into three groups. One group did weekly group counseling sessions. The second group did individual CBT counseling sessions. The third group completed a web-based program which was also modelled on CBT.
Guess what happened?
The third group saw the highest success rates. While 43%-53% of study participants in the traditional group and individual counseling cohorts were able to achieve successful recovery, a full 67% of the web-based cohort recovered. People in the web-based cohort were also less likely to drop out of the program than those in the in-person tracks.
Want to Streamline Telehealth at Your Addiction Treatment Center? We Can Help
At Behave Health, we make it easier - and more profitable - to bring recovery to more patients. Our all-in-one software solution was designed to meet the unique needs of the addiction treatment community.
In 2021, that means we’ve built in robust support for telehealth. Our secure, HIPAA compliant software has built in Zoom and Google Groups compatibility for easy one-on-one and group counseling sessions. Our patient dashboard helps keep your patients connected to treatment wherever they are. And our digital-first application, on-boarding and alumni interfaces are unparalleled in the industry.
Get your free trial started today and see why more addiction treatment centers prefer Behave Health.