MD Program Seeks to Improve Access to Telemental Health Services

The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) has launched a pilot program that aims to increase access to telemental health services, including behavioral healthcare and substance use disorder treatment. 

Ten jurisdictions will receive funding for smartphones and tablets, as well as high-speed internet access to help with virtual visits. 

Many individuals continue to face barriers to telehealth access due to factors like economic stability, geographic location, and race and ethnicity. This program is designed to help improve telehealth access for underserved populations in Maryland.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, telehealth has become integral but it is still out of reach for many of the people who need it most,” MDH Secretary Dennis Schrader said in a press release. “Our goal is to provide telehealth support to every Marylander, and that includes our most vulnerable patients, to help ensure healthcare continuity and better outcomes for all.”

The funding, provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will launch the one-year pilot program in Baltimore City, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Dorchester, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s, and Wicomico counties and will serve 375 patients.

Local behavioral health authorities have selected providers who will receive the funds to purchase HIPAA-compliant telehealth devices. The providers will then distribute the devices to the patients they feel are most in need of access, such as those who lack transportation or childcare services or who might go without care completely if telehealth was not an option.

Adult patients will receive smartphones for the duration of the pilot program, while children, adolescents, seniors, and vision-impaired adults will receive tablets, the press release noted.

The program addresses the issue of broadband affordability by providing participants with funding for one year of internet access or a wireless carrier plan. 

Digital literacy is also a challenge to telehealth adoption for providers and patients alike. Patients are unlikely to embrace telehealth if they don’t know how to use the required technology. Providers participating in the MDH pilot program will teach patients and healthcare staff how to use the program’s technology. They will also offer additional technical support to those who need it.

“Telehealth reduces barriers to treatment by opening the door for more people to enter into care,” Aliya Jones, MD, deputy secretary for behavioral health at MDH, said in the press release. “It is important to address the digital divide so that people with mental health, substance use and co-occurring disorders are more fully able to take advantage of this treatment modality when clinically appropriate.”

The program will collect data from providers over the next year to help the department decide whether to expand the service to additional Maryland jurisdictions and, if so, whether the program needs to be modified. Quarterly reports will detail demographic data, devices used, how patients accessed the internet, the most used services, and patient and provider satisfaction data. 

The need for mental health and substance use disorder treatments escalated during the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, during the height of the pandemic, more patients sought telemental services compared to physical care.

Maryland’s pilot program has the potential to increase access to behavioral health treatment through telehealth for hundreds of underserved individuals in the state.