Telehealth and disparities in opioid use disorder treatment: Medicaid enrollees versus privately insured individuals.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To determine how the rise of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Medicaid enrollees' access to opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment.

Data sources and study setting

Electronic health records from Northwestern Medicine, a large midwestern academic health system, from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021.

Study design

The exposure was the expansion of telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. A difference-in-differences design was used to determine the impact of telehealth on the probability of receiving any OUD care, any in-person OUD care, and any telehealth OUD care in a month.

Data collection/extraction methods

The study included Medicaid and privately insured patients older than 18 years of age, diagnosed with OUD, who had any en

SUBMITTER: Allen LD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11782059 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature