Behavioral Health Care Delivery Following the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Utilization, Telehealth, and Quality of Care for Service Members with PTSD, Depression, or Substance Use Disorder

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, which was declared a public health emergency in February 2020, tested the resilience of the U.S. health care sector like no other disruption in recent history. At the pandemic's onset, the Military Health System (MHS) was already exploring options to expand its use of telehealth, including for behavioral health (BH) conditions. Relying on administrative data on BH visits from the period immediately following the onset of the pandemic and an equivalent period in 2019, RAND researchers conducted preliminary analyses of changes in care delivery in the MHS for posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance use disorder. The findings provide insights about changes in BH care utilization patterns, the use of telehealth, and the effects on the quality of BH care provided to service members. The resulting recommendations can help guide the MHS as it takes steps to expand the use of telehealth, improve health care access and quality, and increase its resilience in the face of future disruptions.The research reported here was completed in December 2021 and underwent security review with the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review before public release.