Mental Health Access to Care: Nurse Practitioner–Led Telehealth Practice

Expansion of full practice authority for nurse practitioners (NPs), coupled with the evolving use of telemedicine, can improve access to care. This project sought to gain a better understanding of how an NP-led integrated telemedicine practice provides access to mental health care in Maryland. Two h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for nurse practitioners 2024-04, Vol.20 (4), p.104965, Article 104965
Main Authors: Fenton, Ashley, Humphrey, Katherine G., Goode, Colleen King, Celius, Lourdes, Rohde, Amanda
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access
access to care
Data collection
Health care access
Health needs
Health services
Labor shortages
Mental disorders
mental health
Mental health care
Mental health services
Nurse led care
nurse practitioner
Nurse practitioners
Pandemics
Patients
Postal codes
Primary care
Rural areas
Software
telehealth
Telemedicine
Workforce
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Summary:Expansion of full practice authority for nurse practitioners (NPs), coupled with the evolving use of telemedicine, can improve access to care. This project sought to gain a better understanding of how an NP-led integrated telemedicine practice provides access to mental health care in Maryland. Two hundred seventy-five patient zip codes were compared with Health Resources and Services Administration mental health shortage areas. Results showed the reach of the practice extends to 67% of all counties in the state, providing care to 69% of counties with the highest mental health needs. NP-led telemedicine practices can expand statewide access to care, and findings will help target high-need areas not currently served. •Maryland has 64 federally designated mental health professional shortage areas.•Nurse practitioners can use telemedicine services to improve access to care in underserved areas.•Integrated mental health and primary care services improve patient outcomes.•One nurse practitioner–led integrated care telehealth practice extended care to 66.7% of all counties.•Access to care can be intentionally expanded by assessing service areas in the state.
ISSN:1555-4155
1878-058X
DOI:10.1016/j.nurpra.2024.104965