UP-TelementalHealth Expansion Effect on Beneficiaries C4385: FY24 UP-TelementalHealth Expansion

Project background, goals/aims/objectives, benefits, and expected outcomes. The Behavioral Health and Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL) program is an interdisciplinary team of researchers supported by trained staff and interprofessional students dedicated to the enhancement of mental & behavioral health among those who are vulnerable. Several of the BH WELL researchers are also advanced care providers (e.g., Psychiatrists, Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners) who serve Medicaid beneficiaries daily. Despite the challenges and interruptions to patient care delivery that arose from the COVID-19 pandemic, a silver lining was that such disruptions provided the onus for providers and healthcare systems to adopt new care delivery modalities, especially telepsychiatry. The goal of this study is to examine the effect of the tele-mental health expansion on treatment outcomes, healthcare utilization, and patient and provider satisfaction. The benefit of addressing this issue is to advance the research in this area while determining important findings that can inform CHFS in guiding the use of tele-mental health within settings serving Medicaid beneficiaries. Our expected outcomes are that the tele-mental health expansion has resulted in increased delivery and access to mental & behavioral healthcare which in turn has improved beneficiary adherence to treatment and health outcomes. We also anticipate that beneficiary healthcare utilization costs from the telehealth expansion will not be greater (but possibly lower) than the time prior to the tele-mental health expansion.