b'AlaskaNativeveteranswho usedvideo-basedcarehad similarfrequencyofusing videocareamongspecialty and primary care. Wefoundsimilarpat-ternsamongveteranswitha historyofhousinginstabil-ityandamongveteranswith low-incomes,shecontinued. Thesefindingssuggestthat, whileveteranswithcertain socialcircumstancesmay experiencebarrierstoini-tial use, or adoption, of video visits, once those barriers are overcome, they have the same rates of use.Overcoming BarriersFerguson said future work that identifies the reason(s) for this barrier could inform interven-tions to help initiate a first vid-eo visit and that results of the work have been shared widelySource: Rates of Primary Care and Integrated Mental Health Telemedicine Visits Between Rural and Urban Veterans Affairs Beneficiaries Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Mar 1;6(3):e231864. doi: within the VA. We have sev- 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.1864. PMID: 36881410; PMCID: PMC9993180eral interventions underway at VA to help veterans overcome these barriers, she said. One of these is the VAshe said. All types of care, both virtual and in-tabletprogramthatprovidesatablettoveteransperson, should be available via as many different who do not have an internet capable device. Givingmodalities as possible to enable veterans to select veterans the tools they need to have a video carethemodalityofcarethatmeetstheirneedsand visitcouldbethedifferencebetweengettingre- that they feel most comfortable with, while pro-mote care and not. viding the highest quality of care.Whilevideo-basedcaremayinadvertentlyGeography might also have created gaps in care. increase disparities in healthcare access and qual- A recent study published in JAMA Network Open ity of care, Ferguson noted that the differences herpointedoutthat,whiletelemedicinecanincrease team reported may not necessarily equal a disparityaccess to care, uptake has generally been low among in accessing healthcareif veterans are accessingpeoplelivinginruralareas.TheVHAinitially care at the levels they need and the way they wantencouraged telemedicine uptake in rural areas, but (e.g., in-person, phone or video).researchers from the VA Los Angeles Health System For example, we know that older veterans areandtheDavidGeffenSchoolofMedicineatthe lesslikelytohaveavideovisitthanyoungerUniversity of California Los Angeles and colleagues veterans.Butifanolderveterandoesnotwantsought to examine changes over time in rural-urban a video visit and prefers an in-person visit, thendifferences in telemedicine use for primary care and theirclinicianteamshouldfocusonprovidingformentalhealthintegrationservicesamongVA care in the way the veteran wants to receive care,beneficiaries. 255'