Clinician Prescribing Practices Involving Medications for Alcohol Use Disorder.

Introduction: Despite the heavy toll of alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the U.S., efficacious medications for AUD (MAUD) are rarely used.

Patient Experiences With Group Teletherapy for the Treatment of Mental Illness: A Qualitative Study.

Objective: The authors sought to understand patient experiences with group teletherapy to inform improvements in service delivery.

Methods: From December 2022 to October 2023, semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 adults with depression or bipolar disorder who had received outpatient group teletherapy in the past 2 years. A rapid thematic analysis was conducted by using a matrix to identify patterns and synthesize data.

Telelactation Within the Landscape of Breastfeeding Support: Experiences of Latina Parents.

Background: Despite increasing breastfeeding initiation rates in the United States, disparities in breastfeeding continuation and exclusivity by race and ethnicity persist.

Research Aim: We aimed to understand the perceptions and experiences of Latina parents who received access to telelactation, and assessed the implications of integrating telelactation into pediatric settings.

Methods: This cross-sectional qualitative study drew from participants enrolled in a randomized controlled trial about breastfeeding support.

Medications for Alcohol Use Disorder: Rates and Predictors of Prescription Order and Fill in Outpatient Settings.

Background: Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are prevalent and responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality; yet efficacious treatments are underused. Previous studies have identified demographic and clinical predictors of medication fills, yet these studies typically do not include patients who were prescribed a medication but did not fill it.

Objectives: To examine rates of and factors associated with prescription order and prescription fill for medications for AUD (MAUD) among individuals diagnosed with AUD in outpatient settings.

Perceptions of stimulant and buprenorphine diversion and strategies to address it.

There is ongoing policy debate on the prescribing of controlled substances such as buprenorphine and stimulants via telemedicine. The goal of federal and state policymakers is to ensure access to care while limiting diversion risk. However, there is little evidence on how clinicians view and address diversion and on telemedicine's role in diversion.

Access challenges for patients with limited English proficiency: a secret-shopper study of in-person and telehealth behavioral health services in California safety-net clinics.

The recent growth of telehealth may be impacting access to care for patients, including those with limited English proficiency (LEP). Using a secret-shopper design, simulated patients contacted 386 safety-net clinics in California in both Spanish and English from February-March 2023. Callers stated that they were new patients seeking medication for depression, and they documented time to an appointment and available visit modalities (telehealth and in-person).

Challenges and Facilitators in Implementing Remote Patient Monitoring Programs in Primary Care.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in greater use of remote patient monitoring (RPM). However, the use of RPM has been modest compared to other forms of telehealth.

Objective: To identify and describe barriers to the implementation of RPM among primary care physicians (PCPs) that may be constraining its growth.

The Impact Of Telemedicine On Medicare Utilization, Spending, And Quality, 2019-22.

Telemedicine use remains substantially higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, although it has fallen from pandemic highs. To inform the ongoing debate about whether to continue payment for telemedicine visits, we estimated the association of greater telemedicine use across health systems with utilization, spending, and quality. In 2020, Medicare patients receiving care at health systems in the highest quartile of telemedicine use had 2.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Telemedicine Use.

Importance: Individuals of racial and ethnic minority groups may be less likely to use telemedicine in part due to lack of access to technology (ie, digital divide). To date, some studies have found less telemedicine use by individuals of racial and ethnic minority groups compared with White individuals, and others have found the opposite. What explains these different findings is unclear.

Trends in Use of Telemedicine for Stimulant Initiation Among Children and Adults.

Objective: The authors sought to examine trends in stimulant initiation and follow-up care for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) via telemedicine.

Methods: This retrospective longitudinal study used national, deidentified commercial health insurance outpatient claims among children (ages 2-17 years; N=535,629) and adults (ages 18-64 years; N=2,116,160) from January 2019 through April 2022. Regression analyses were used to examine risk for stimulant initiation, whether initiation occurred via telemedicine or in-person care, and receipt of a follow-up visit.

Acceptability of Telelactation Services for Breastfeeding Support Among Black Parents: Semistructured Interview Study.

Background: While breastfeeding rates have increased in the United States in recent years, racial and ethnic disparities persist. Telelactation may help reduce disparities by increasing access to lactation consultants, but there is limited research on acceptability among minoritized individuals.

Objective: We aimed to explore experiences with telelactation among Black parents and identify strategies to make services more culturally appropriate.

Effects of Remote Patient Monitoring Use on Care Outcomes Among Medicare Patients With Hypertension : An Observational Study.

Background: Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a promising tool for improving chronic disease management. Use of RPM for hypertension monitoring is growing rapidly, raising concerns about increased spending. However, the effects of RPM are still unclear.

Use of Telemedicine and Quality of Care Among Medicare Enrollees With Serious Mental Illness.

Importance: During the COVID-19 pandemic, a large fraction of mental health care was provided via telemedicine. The implications of this shift in care for use of mental health service and quality of care have not been characterized.

Objective: To compare changes in care patterns and quality during the first year of the pandemic among Medicare beneficiaries with serious mental illness (schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder) cared for at practices with higher vs lower telemedicine use.

Choosing Or Losing In Behavioral Health: A Study Of Patients' Experiences Selecting Telehealth Versus In-Person Care.

It is not known how the growth of telehealth has affected patients' choice of visit modalities (telehealth versus in person). In 2023 we conducted a mixed-methods study that paired a nationally representative survey of 2,071 adults (including 571 who used behavioral health services) and semistructured interviews with twenty-six people with depression or bipolar disorder. We explored patients' experiences with visit modality selection and their agency in the decision.

Prescribing Medications for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Qualitative Study of Primary Care Physician Decision Making.

Purpose: Over 29 million Americans have alcohol use disorder (AUD). Though there are effective medications for AUD (MAUD) that can be prescribed within primary care, they are underutilized. We aimed to explore how primary care physicians familiar with MAUD make prescribing decisions and to identify reasons for underuse of MAUD within primary care.

Long-Term Prospects for Telemedicine in Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Treatment: Results from a Longitudinal Survey of OUD Clinicians.

Background: During the pandemic, there was a dramatic shift to telemedicine for opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. Little is known about how clinician attitudes about telemedicine use for OUD treatment are evolving or their preferences for future use.

Objective: To understand OUD clinician views of and preferences regarding telemedicine.

Building Public Health Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Capabilities Through Disaster Citizen Science: Perspectives From Local Health Department, Academic, and Community Representatives.

Context: Disaster citizen is the use of scientific methods by the public to address preparedness, response, or recovery needs. Disaster citizen science applications with public health relevance are growing in academic and community sectors, but integration with public health emergency preparedness, response, and recovery (PHEPRR) agencies is limited.

Objective: We examined how local health departments (LHDs) and community-based organizations have used citizen science to build public health preparedness and response (PHEP) capabilities.