Telemedicine is transforming how rural communities address the opioid epidemic.
The lack of access to continuous care for chronic conditions such as opioid use disorder (OUD) can leave rural hospitals without a reliable solution to treat these chronic conditions that often demand extensive treatment plans and follow-up care. In a recent interview with Behavioral Health Business, Access TeleCare’s national medical director of outpatient care and consultation-liaison psychiatry, Arun Gopal, M.D., highlighted the lack of continuous care as a major reason many rural facilities struggle to treat OUDs and how telemedicine alleviates this issue for providers.
“We anchor somebody to a hospital [so] we could look as similar to real service as possible,” Gopal said as part of the interview. “We own that patient alongside the primary team, which is the hospitalist and emergency room team, and we follow that patient.”
Access TeleCare’s telemedicine programs solve the lack of care continuity and consistent coverage that prevents many rural facilities from caring for patients presenting with OUD symptoms.
Read more of Dr. Gopal’s remarks here, and contact us to learn more about our consultation-liaison telePsychiatry programs.
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