Telehealth for Contraceptive Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Provider Perspectives

Adapting Family Planning Service Delivery in Title X and School-Based Settings during COVID-19: Provider and Staff Experiences

“…Despite implementation challenges, telehealth services were largely embraced by providers and staff in our studies, with many noting their potential to expand access to care. This finding aligns with previous research with family planning clinicians [ 19 , 40 , 42 ]. In addition, many providers in our studies applauded use of online technology, including digitized forms that allowed patients to complete pre-visit screenings and intakes and thus streamline the amount of time patients spend in clinics.…”

“…Other service adaptations appear to be less common, with 10 percent to 23 percent of providers surveyed offering self-administered medroxyprogesterone acetate [ 36 , 38 ], 15 percent to 22 percent offering curbside pick-up for contraceptives [ 36 , 38 ], and 15 percent to 35 percent mailing out contraceptives or using mail-order pharmacies [ 36 , 38 ]. Researchers have also surveyed providers on perceptions of the effectiveness, acceptability, and challenges of telemedicine, the most widespread and common change to family planning service delivery during the pandemic [ 40 , 41 , 42 ]. In one study, Stifani et al found that 80 percent of family planning providers strongly agreed that telehealth was effective for contraceptive counseling, and a majority supported continuing to provide it post-pandemic, with a significant preference for video visits over phone visits [ 40 ].…”

“…This and other studies have also shed light on key limitations of telehealth, including not being able to conduct physical exams or diagnostic testing, patient difficulties using telehealth, insufficient cellular service or poor Wi-Fi connections, and disparities in access to technology [ 40 , 41 ]. Additional challenges reported by providers at youth-serving clinics include lack of client awareness of telehealth services and concerns around confidentiality [ 42 ].…”

“…To date, limited qualitative studies have examined family planning service adaptations during COVID-19. These studies include a textual analysis of Title-X-funded clinic progress reports documenting reported service delivery adaptations [ 37 ], a content analysis of open-ended survey responses from providers implementing telehealth services for contraceptive care [ 42 ], and a case study of rapid implementation of telehealth across multiple specialties at a clinic serving AYA [ 2 ]. While these efforts have helped to define the changes made to family planning practice in various settings, they do not provide an in-depth exploration of provider experiences with a range of adaptations.…”

Contraceptive care in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic: A social media survey of contraceptive access, telehealth use and telehealth quality

“…Contraception visits sharply declined when COVID-19 restrictions took effect and remained low throughout 2020 [8] . However, many studies have demonstrated the rapid increase in the use of telehealth during COVID-19 specifically for contraceptive care, from only 10-20% of family planning providers utilizing telehealth before the pandemic to 80-90% utilizing it during the pandemic [9] , [10] , [11] .…”