The pandemic taught many valuable lessons, one of them being that medical expertise isn’t only limited to a doctor’s office but can be practiced in an online format as well. As medical providers worked to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, many expanded their services on online platforms to provide patients the ability to safely connect with a medical provider while minimizing the risks of COVID-19 exposure.
These services range from video chats with therapists to artificial intelligence (AI).
The use of AI in online therapy, according to the American Psychological Association, offers plenty of potential opportunities, including destigmatizing therapy, reducing potential cost barriers and allowing for support to be available 24/7. In the midst of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many patients and doctors couldn’t safely meet for in-person appointments, this provided an alternative to meet health care needs.
But the use of AI doesn’t mean patients aren’t receiving person-to-person medical attention. Instead, AI can be used for a variety of purposes including telecommunications, patient information intake and analysis, diagnosis, and scheduling.
One example is the use of AI to transcribe therapy sessions, giving practitioners quick access to the full record of an appointment. This also allows therapists and medical providers to compile data and perform key word analysis on therapy sessions more quickly and effectively, allowing for better quality of care and more accurate diagnoses.
Similarly, AI can be used to address the issue of misdistribution of medical services. The use of AI can solve some of the problems that many patients in remote locations, or patients with mobility and transportation challenges, experience. This gives patients access to a broader range of health care options without driving up costs.
Popular therapy apps that incorporate significant elements of AI include Woebot, Wysa and
Youper. The AI component can range from gauging mood to offering chatbot therapy, which many use in tandem with live therapists.
Still, AI cannot compete in certain spaces with telehealth apps. Services such as BetterHelp, Cerebral and Talkspace may use AI, but typically only in screening, matching users with therapists and other logistical functions. Those apps aim to make therapy more accessible, whether that means offering therapy at home for a person with social anxiety or offering flexibility to a person who travels frequently but requires regular visits with their care provider.
Health care providers and businesses have even begun to partner with telehealth services to expand their own reach.
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center began using BetterHelp in 2020, near the start of the pandemic. In a matter of months, telehealth visits through EAP had shifted from 2 percent to 98 percent of all visits, according to the OSU Health Plan website. BetterHelp allowed EAP to connect users to Ohio-licensed medical professionals through calls, texts or video chats faster than before.
Thanks to the broadening access to the internet and phones, therapy and care for mental health is becoming more attainable than ever, and coming off of the heels of a global pandemic, taking care of one’s mental health is as vital as it has ever been.
Sophia Englehart is an editorial assistant. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
