Addiction Treatment and Telehealth: Review of Efficacy and Provider Insights During the COVID-19 Pandemic

What is it about?

We identified eight published studies that compared addiction treatment delivered via telehealth with in-person treatment and found that telehealth treatment was as effective as in-person treatment for retention, satisfaction with treatment, therapeutic alliance, and substance use. California addiction treatment providers reported that telemedicine may help improve access to treatment and that they felt most comfortable with the effectiveness of addiction treatment for individual counseling. Additional research is needed to clarify the circumstances under which telehealth SUD treatment is optimal for maximizing access and substance use outcomes.

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