For years, telemedicine has been touted as a way to address mental health provider shortages in Greater Minnesota or as an option that could help stave off the looming mass retirement of the state’s aging psychologist workforce. But, despite the promise offered by technology, most mental health providers in Minnesota avoided making the move to telemedicine, instead preferring to see their patients face-to-face. Then COVID-19 hit Minnesota and everything changed. Within weeks of Gov. Tim Walz’s statewide stay-at-home order , mental health providers across the state were forced to embrace telemedicine: Sticking with the old ways of doing business would mean turning patients away and shutting down their practices. This rapid switch went surprisingly quickly, said Teri Fritsma, senior research analyst for the Minnesota Department of Health Office of Rural Health and Primary Care . With an eye on keeping their practices alive, mental health providers made the switchover...
