Adoption of telemedicine services by substance abuse treatment facilities in the
U S
#MMPMID32811631
Uscher-Pines L
; Cantor J
; Huskamp HA
; Mehrotra A
; Busch A
; Barnett M
J Subst Abuse Treat
2020[Oct]; 117
(?): 108060
PMID32811631
show ga
OBJECTIVE: To describe trends in licensed substance use treatment facilities'
adoption of telemedicine and how adoption varies across local factors, including
county-level drug overdose rates, urbanicity measures, and state policy laws.
METHODS: We analyzed data (2016-2019) from the National Directory of Drug and
Alcohol Abuse Treatment Facilities. Our main outcome was telemedicine use by a
treatment facility. We also captured independent variables from other datasets,
including estimated county-level drug poisoning deaths and state-level
telemedicine policies. We estimated a multivariable logistic regression model to
determine which facility characteristics were associated with offering
telemedicine. RESULTS: From 2016 to 2019, an average of 12,334 treatment
facilities were included. During this period, the unadjusted proportion of
facilities offering telemedicine grew from 13.5% to 17.4% (p < 0.001). In
adjusted models, rural location; offering multiple treatment settings; offering
pharmacotherapy; and serving both adult and pediatric patients were associated
with greater telemedicine adoption (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). DISCUSSION:
Use of telemedicine is increasing steadily among substance use disorder (SUD)
treatment facilities; however, uptake is uneven and relatively low. As such,
telemedicine may be an underutilized tool to expand access to care for patients
with SUDs.
free
free
free
