Even before the COVID-19 pandemic spurred many health care professionals to deemphasize face-to-face treatment, virtual consultations were being touted as a viable and effective way to help control spiraling costs and reach the millions of Americans who struggle to access care.

A recent study by Accenture found that the use of virtual behavioral health techniques could open up treatment to an estimated 53 million people in need of mental health and substance abuse treatment.

The report, "Breakthrough Behavioral Health Access: Think Virtual," relied on a survey of 3,448 individuals 13 and older who had been diagnosed with or had symptoms of mental health issues like depression, anxiety, PTSD or declared that they had addiction problems.

The report said that only 43% of adults suffering from such issues are currently receiving treatment, and cites a number of reasons for that shortfall: the cost of treatment may be prohibitive; some people think they can work through issues on their own; and there is still a social stigma to admitting one needs help with a mental health or substance abuse problem.

"Access to behavioral health care is especially challenging," it said. "It is difficult to find a behavioral health clinician, and when one is available, the average wait time for the first appointment is 25 days. This is a lifetime for people in crisis."

The report said that situation is only likely to worsen, with a projected shortage of 250,000 behavioral and mental health specialists by 2025.

Virtual treatment can greatly reduce the strain on the system, but there is still a reluctance to use remote consultations among the public. Asked what sort of behavioral health interactions they'd had over the past three years, 55% of consumers said they'd involved in-person sessions with a doctor or other professional.

Another 38% said they'd used virtual treatment, most of them likely to have been in the past few months after the COVID-19 outbreak.

"Just 22% had these sessions over the phone, and only 14% participated through video chat," the report said.

The survey found that the cost of behavioral health care is a key factor in the public's reluctance to seek it out, with 44% of respondents saying such services must be low-cost or free.

The study found that younger Americans were far more likely to embrace virtual behavioral health treatment.

Accenture Senior Managing Director Rich Birhanzel, who heads to companies global health practice, said the coronavirus has only intensified the need for more options and flexibility in the nation's health care system.

"The behavioral health crisis in the U.S. isn't new, but the pandemic is clearly exacerbating it," said Birhanzel in a statement accompanying the report's release.

"The rapid expansion of virtual care models during lockdown in the current pandemic created new expectations for effective and reliable health care at a distance," he said. "While our research found that only 38% of respondents hadn't been widely using a virtual channel for such treatment in the prior three years, they're now overwhelmingly willing to do so."

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COVID drives demand for virtual mental health, substance abuse treatment

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