At the height of the pandemic, behavioral health companies were forced to implement technology and processes to continue caring for patients. The processes and platforms, which they continue to use, are disconnected, manual, and burdensome for providers, administrators, and patients alike. Staff continue to rely on disparate point products like their EHR, email, phone, and video conferencing tools to deliver the comprehensive mental health treatment that is greatly needed by patients. However, there are nuances to providing comprehensive behavioral health treatment that point products like video conferencing tools and manual processes do not offer. These steps include admissions and booking, care delivery, asynchronous care through files and homework, and ongoing care in alumni or aftercare programs. Although organizations can still deliver these steps, it is much harder to do so in a scalable and effective way with disconnected products and processes. Unlike point products that do only one thing at a time—and manual processes that take so much time away from client care—telehealth solutions enable providers to effectively and easily care for patients at every step of their journey. 

The next three sections examine how telehealth is changing how behavioral health is delivered, and why companies need to grow their telehealth capabilities so they can not only deliver the modern experience that patients and staff expect, but keep up with a growing demand for mental healthcare.