skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Israel announces wave of strikes on Tehran after Trump demands Iran's unconditional surrender; NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested at immigration court; Federal bill would dim rooftop solar's future, says Michigan CEO; Despite known Iowa nitrate risks, EPA focuses on fluoride; Georgia's Macon-Bibb County launches justice reform plan.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump's big budget and policy act faces pushback from clean energy advocates and small businesses. A federal court weighs legality of deploying the California National Guard over the governor's objections. And ICE detains a New York mayoral candidate.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

EV charging stations are harder to find in rural America, improving the mental health of children and teachers is the goal of a new partnership in seven rural states, and a once segregated Mississippi movie theater is born again.

Telehealth Expands Access to Mental Health Services in CO

play audio
Play

Monday, July 10, 2023   

The COVID public health emergency created a spike in the adoption of a wide range of telehealth services, and Coloradans are continuing to access mental health care remotely, according to new analysis by the Center for Improving Value in Health Care.

Cari Frank, vice president of communications at the center, said telehealth is also helping address the current shortage of mental-health providers practicing in Colorado.

"And so telehealth enables people to get access so that they aren't having to go to a physical location," Frank explained. "They're also able to access mental health providers outside of our state."

Relaxed policies during COVID that helped providers get paid for telehealth visits played a significant role in the increase in the number of patients accessing care remotely. Frank noted data tapped through the Colorado All Payer Claims Database shows the top diagnosis among patients was anxiety disorder, followed by PTSD, major depression and adjustment disorders.

There are advantages to getting care in the privacy of your own home, especially in less populated areas where a neighbor might ask uncomfortable questions if they see your car parked outside the only psychologist's office in town. Frank pointed out telehealth also makes it easier to fit sessions into people's busy lives.

"I think it's a more comfortable setting, to be in the comfort of your own home," Frank acknowledged. "You can be in your pajamas, you can be on the couch. Just turn on your phone or your computer and talk to somebody."

Last year, nearly 29% of Coloradans who reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder were not able to access treatment in the past four weeks. Frank emphasized telehealth can make it easier to keep people connected to care, which also can help keep overall health costs down by reducing emergency room visits when illness goes untreated.

"If you can expand telehealth services for mental health, and get people actually talking to somebody before an event turns into something like an emergency department visit, then we're certainly going to be saving health care dollars," Frank stressed.

Disclosure: The Center for Improving Value in Health Care contributes to our fund for reporting on Consumer Issues, and Health Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Nutrient management planning has been around for more than 30 years, traditionally developed for farmers by private sector farm co-ops and agronomists. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A new effort is helping Wisconsin farmers protect water quality in their communities by learning more about how to prevent manure and fertilizer spill…


play sound

More than 70,000 Marylanders are student parents, raising kids while attending college full or part-time and proposed cuts in this year's big budget …

Social Issues

play sound

Advocates for homeownership in Oregon are celebrating a new bill which sets targets to boost the state's homeownership rate, currently at 64%…


Medical organizations said the effects of Alzheimer's are projected to rise in states like South Dakota and families should be more in tune with potential issues facing their loved one, including money management. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

June is Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month and new research examined the connection between dementia and awareness about money management skills…

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado, already considered a national leader in workforce development, is aiming to raise the bar even higher. Gov. Jared Polis recently issued an …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Gov. Greg Abbott has until June 22 to sign or veto Senate Bill 3, which would ban consumable THC products in Texas. Banning items like vapes and …

Social Issues

play sound

A case with national implications on the power of the U.S. president to use state National Guard troops to quell protests now rests with a panel of …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021