Incorporating telehealth and other digital tools may enhance the patient-physician relationship and increase the effectiveness of behavioral health offerings, according to new report by the American Medical Association (AMA).
The AMA, in conjunction with Manatt Health Strategies and other healthcare experts, identified solutions designed to increase access to such services through the use of digital technologies.
“The demand for behavioral health services is significant and rising, but so is the potential for digital technology to support the integrated delivery of physical and behavioral health services,” AMA president Gerald Harmon, MD, said in a prepared statement. “The AMA is committed to accessible and equitable treatment for behavioral and physical health needs, and appropriate use of digital health technology can drive behavioral health integration, particularly at time of increased psychological distress and trauma.”
The report emphasizes the importance of demonstrating the value generated by digital tools for providers, patients and society at large.
The new report builds on AMA's ongoing commitment to accelerating behavioral health integration (BHI) in primary care practices by working alongside members of the BHI Collaborative to provide enhanced support and evidence-based resources.
In addition, physician practices and health systems can also access additional guidance on optimizing and sustaining telehealth at their organizations
Through the AMA’s Telehealth Program, physician practices and health systems can also access additional guidance on optimizing and sustaining telehealth in their organizations.
Among the practical solutions to advance digitally enabled BHI outlined in the study include:
- Increase behavioral health diagnosis and treatment rates by incorporating evidence-based digital health solutions and enabling technology into standard workflows.
- Bolstering behavioral health integration by expanding coverage and fair payment with a margin for all stakeholders utilizing the Collaborative Care Model and other models that facilitate care management and transitions of care for patients with behavioral health conditions.
- Help primary care specialists overcome financial barriers to adopting BHI by providing long-term sustainable funding opportunities and fair payment rates with a margin for providers delivering BHI services in federal and state coverage programs.
- Evolve current and develop new businesses to support BHI, address patient and physician needs, complement in-person care, support comprehensive care delivery, and enable asynchronous communication among patients and providers.
“It is essential that all stakeholders act now to ensure that primary care specialists receive dedicated support to operationalize digitally enabled BHI, and that BHI is paid for with a margin in both fee-for-service and value-based payment models in order to achieve widespread adoption,” according to the study.
Read the full study here.