Telemedicine vs In-person Care: In Addiction Medicine, Options are Key
Patient Care Online
August 16, 2021
COVID-19 has dealt in-person addiction treatment a blow, but the chief medical officer of Groups Recover Together tells a telemedicine success story with a hybrid ending.
In the shadows of the COVID pandemic, it was easy to ignore the growth of another public health crisis: the opioid epidemic. According to USA Today, drug overdose deaths hit a record high of 93 000 last year – a stunning 29% increase from the previous year.
For those struggling with opioid use disorder (OUD), the disruption of carefully curated treatment routines, coupled with the challenges of isolation and other pandemic-induced anxieties, created a tragically perfect storm.
Success was a pleasant surprise
Just as most businesses were forced to rethink their models overnight, OUD treatment providers, with the lives of these particularly at-risk individuals at stake, had to adjust operations in ways they never could have predicted. At Groups Recover Together, we transitioned our operations rapidly from entirely in-person to entirely virtual care and were pleasantly surprised by the resulting success: after 5 months, we saw no change in attendance rates at our weekly counseling sessions, no drop in the percentage of members remaining active in treatment after 3 months, and 87% of members felt as or more supported by clinicians in the virtual setting. We also didn’t see technology as being a major barrier to receiving care, with more than 80% of our members joining our weekly group therapy sessions via the video on their smartphone.
However, as the pandemic continues to evolve, so do the needs of our members and staff. Some patients have grown comfortable with telemedicine; others are feeling more strained than ever and want to incorporate in-person treatment back into their routines. Similarly, care providers have their preferences, as do family members and insurance companies. The path forward is uncharted territory, but it’s fair to say that all are willing to consider the benefits and drawbacks of virtual and in-person treatment and define the future of care delivery models as swiftly and thoroughly as possible.