Use of telehealth jumped sharply during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown, with the approach being used more often for behavioral health services than for medical care, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
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Use of telehealth jumped sharply during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown, with the approach being used more often for behavioral health services than for medical care, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Between mid-March and early May 2020, telehealth was used by more than 40% of patients with a chronic physical health condition and by more than 50% of those with a behavioral health condition, according to findings published in the
Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Overall, almost half of the people who were undergoing treatment when the pandemic shutdown began reported using some form of telemedicine.
Researchers found that the use of telehealth for behavioral health conditions was lower among women and among people over the age of 60. Use of telehealth also was lower among Non-Hispanic Whites relative to Non-Hispanic Blacks, and was lower among those with less than a high school education relative to those with a college degree.
The study shows that 53.6% of patients with a behavioral health condition sought treatment via telehealth from mid-March to early May of 2020. By comparison, 43.2% of patients with a chronic physical condition used telehealth to receive care during the same period.
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The economic challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic have grown worse since the spring for many American families, with an increasing number reporting that they have trouble paying bills, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Surveyed several times over the course of the pandemic, nearly 45% of study participants report that they had difficulty paying bills at some point since February and 13% reported it had been been very difficult to pay bills at some point during the period.
Preliminary results from another wave of the survey conducted in early December suggests that many people plan to spend less than usual on holiday gifts this year, which also could indicate continuing financial hardship.