ArticleCurrent medical research and opinion2020
The impact of telemental health use on healthcare costs among commercially insured adults with mental health conditions.
Article in Current medical research and opinion, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- A scoping review of barriers and facilitators to implementing tele-mental health solutions for rural, remote and underserved populations in low- and middle-income countries.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Understanding the financial hardships faced by TB and HIV patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-method study in Bandung and Yogyakarta, Indonesia.Health policy and planning · 2025Article
- Health Care Setting and Minimally Adequate Depression Treatment Among Publicly Insured Children.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Disparities and Medical Expenditure Implications in Pediatric Tele-Mental Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mississippi.The journal of behavioral health services & research · 2025Article
- Tele-Mental Health Service: Unveiling the Disparity and Impact on Healthcare Access and Expenditures during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mississippi.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Videoconferencing-Based Telemental Health: Important Questions for the COVID-19 Era From Clinical and Patient-Centered Perspectives.JMIR mental health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine the impact of telemental health (TMH) use on total healthcare costs and mental health (MH)-related costs paid by a third party among adults with mental health conditions (MHC).
methodThis study employed a pre-post design with a non-equivalent control group. The cohort comprised adults with MHCs identified using diagnosis codes from de-identified claims data of the Optum Clinformatics DataMart (2010 January 01 to 2017 June 30). We identified mental health (MH) service users and TMH users (
resultsTMH use was associated with significantly higher MH-related costs [Marginal effect = $461.3, 95% confidence interval: $142.4-$780.2] and an excess of $370 increase in MH-related costs at follow-up as compared to baseline. However, TMH use was not associated with an increase in total third-party healthcare costs nor with changes in total costs from baseline to follow-up.
conclusionsDespite having a higher likelihood of MH services use and MH-related costs, TMH users did not have higher total costs as compared to adults using only in-person MH services. Our findings suggest that TMH can increase access to MH care without increasing total healthcare costs among adults with MHC. Future studies exploring whether TMH use can lead to cost-savings over a longer period are warranted.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.