The Pros and Cons of Telehealth and Determining if it is a Good Fit for You
Telehealth may seem pretty new to most of us, but telehealth has actually been around a while, especially to ensure people in rural areas receive health care. The Veterans’ Administration has been a leader in utilizing this technology.
When the Covid-19 pandemic occurred, legislative changes made it much easier for medical and technologic communities to come together, speeding up the process of implementing telehealth services throughout the country. This ensured patients still received vital medical care without potentially exposing people unnecessarily to a highly contagious and dangerous virus for which we were still developing prevention and treatment methods.
Telehealth has now become an integral part of the medical system that patients and practitioners have come to rely on. It provides flexible, quick access to care.
What are some of the pros of telehealth therapy?
- Teletherapy is a great service for people with less reliable means of transportation, who live far from their therapist, or just aren’t big fans of navigating traffic and commutes. There are fewer potential factors that could prevent you from making it to your therapy appointment on time. Which is great, especially given sometimes you may have frequent therapy sessions if you choose.
- Therapy delivered virtually sometimes allows quicker access to care. There are many therapists available with different schedules who offer telehealth. If you have an emergency need, your therapist may be more easily accessible through virtual care, where you can quickly schedule and jump on a video chat.
- Virtual care allows more flexibility when you are trying to juggle family responsibilities and work schedules. You may be able to complete visits in between different duties, but you still must set aside enough time to allow for potential wait times.
- It can make you feel more comfortable if you are able to talk about personal and sometimes difficult things in the comfort of your home. You can have your pet with you or be in a cozy spot.
However, everyone has different levels of comfort with virtual care, especially in the therapy setting, and there can be pros and cons to telehealth. When setting up your telehealth appointments with your therapist, some things to keep in mind:
- Are you able to be in a private setting?
- Even though you have a more portable means of meeting up with your therapist such as your phone or laptop, it is still important to meet in a private area where both you and therapist feel comfortable talking about personal things.
- This means also ideally being in an environment where interruptions are kept to a minimum. For example, it is good to make sure someone is watching your kids and if you are in a work setting, have protected time off and away from others during your visit.
- You want your focus to be engaging with your therapist, so it is important not to try to multitask and combine therapy with doing other things.
- Do you have good connectivity?
- Before you conduct your visit, often you will be required to do a hardware test, but it is helpful even before that to ensure you have a good internet connection, and your mic and video are working well.
- Also, if you do not have access to a computer or tablet with a mic and camera or a smartphone, then an in-person visit will likely be the best fit for you
- Are you in a safe place?
- You want to make sure you are not driving when you connect to your therapist. If you are, they may need to reschedule your visit. If you must be in your car, then make sure you’re pulled over in a safe spot, and you have a good connection prior to when your visit is about to start.
- Does your insurance cover telehealth?
- Most insurances cover telehealth, but it is good to double check. During the recent government shutdown some telehealth services were impacted, such as for Medicare and Medicaid. Currently, Medicare patients can receive telehealth services for non-behavioral/mental health care in their home through January 30, 2026, and this may likely be extended in the future.
- What is your comfort level with virtual care?
- Some of us naturally feel more comfortable in our own space, but on the other hand, others feel more at ease in person. It can be hard for some of us to connect initially when not in the same room, and that is OK. Sometimes you may want to meet with your therapist for a while in person prior to feeling comfortable connecting virtually or you may always want to keep it in person, and that is OK too.
How to prepare for a telehealth visit:
- Make sure you know how you are going to connect to your appointment- will it be a call, text, or email with a link?
- Dress like you would for a typical therapy session
- Make sure your camera has you properly in view
- Connect 15 minutes early for your appointment to allow time for trouble shooting if needed
- Make sure to minimize distractions. Close all your other apps and try using a do not disturb setting
- Call your therapist’s office if you have any trouble connecting
Additional Resources:
https://telehealth.hhs.gov/providers/telehealth-policy/telehealth-policy-updates