The pandemic pushed telehealth into the mainstream for all kinds of conditions, as stay-at-home restrictions forced some medical facilities to close and new COVID-19 variants kept patients at home. Dr. Bart Demaerschalk, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, says telemedicine can reduce costs.
PHOENIX-Telehealth has been a widely used resource during the pandemic, but as providers and policymakers consider its future, some continue to weigh the pros and cons of treating certain conditions from a distance-particularly mental illness and substance use.
"Patients have tended to be OK with teletherapy, but a lot of therapists feel something is lost relative to in-person therapy," said Dr. John Markowitz, professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University and a research psychiatrist for the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
"The major advantage of teletherapy is that it maintain...
