Ruth A. Hailu

Jan 26, 2024 | jamanetwork.com | Ruth A. Hailu |Lori Uscher-Pines |Ateev Mehrotra

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic–related shift to telemedicine has been particularly prominent and sustained in mental health care. In 2021, more than one-third of mental health visits were conducted via telemedicine.1 While most mental health specialists have in-person and telemedicine visits, some have transitioned to fully virtual practice, perhaps for greater work-life flexibility (including avoiding commuting) and eliminating expenses of maintaining a physical clinic.

Jul 12, 2023 | jamanetwork.com | Lindsay Nicole Overhage |Ruth A. Hailu |Kenneth A Michelson |Haiden Huskamp

Key PointsQuestion  How did utilization of acute mental health care change during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic for youth aged 5 to 17 years? Findings  In this cross-sectional study comparing pandemic year 2 with a baseline year, the fraction of youth with mental health emergency department visits increased 7%, the percentage of emergency department visits that resulted in inpatient psychiatric admission increased 8%, and the mean length of inpatient psychiatric stay increased 4%.