Policy & Science Plenary Session - Expanding Access to Care Through Telehealth: Lessons Learned During the Pandemic

Saturday, April 2, 2022

8:30 AM – 10:00 AM ET

Location: Great Hall 4-6, Third Floor

While there has long been interest in expanding access to addiction treatment through telehealth, there have historically been both regulatory and financial barriers that limited adoption. Through the COVID-19 public health emergency, federal and state regulations governing telehealth have been relaxed and payment mechanisms have expanded, leading to broad adoption with diverse models of implementation. This plenary session, moderated by ASAM President-Elect, Dr. Brian Hurley, will discuss the state of the research on telehealth for addiction treatment, innovative telehealth models, lessons learned during the pandemic, and implications for policies and practices going forward.

Learning Objectives:

Learners will be able to:

Describe the current state of the research on addiction treatment through telehealth.
Describe simple telehealth solutions to the complex problem of access to substance use disorder treatment that are only now permissible due to regulatory changes during COVID-19.
Describe the implementation of a telehealth model based on equity, diversity and inclusion principles, and lessons learned by addiction treatment facilities combining telehealth with digital therapeutics.
Describe how compassionate and trauma-informed telehealth services support equitable, inclusive, and empowering care for patients.

Presenter(s)

Nzinga A. Harrison, MD, FASAM

Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder
Eleanor Health, Massachusetts

Slides
Tyler Oesterle, MD, MPH

Addiction Psychiatrist
Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Health System, Minnesota

Slides
Vania P. Rudolf, MD, MPH, DFASAM

Medical Director, Addiction Recovery Services
Swedish Medical Center, Washington

Slides
Rachel S. Wightman, MD

Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Rhode Island

Slides
Jake Ketchum, III

N/A
N/A, Washington

Moderator(s)

Brian Hurley, MD, MBA, DFASAM

Medical Director
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, California