Mara Klecker

Telehealth — offering medical services via remote technology — might be one solution for rural Nebraskans with little access to mental health and substance abuse resources, according to a look at the state’s needs by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The Comprehensive Behavioral Health Needs Assessment is the most complete report HHS has compiled on the topic, said Linda Wittmuss, deputy director with the department. The data — much of it pulled from census statistics, past studies and focus groups and surveys — will inform HHS’s 2017-2020 strategic plan. That plan will have to include innovative ways to use technology to reach Nebraskans who may be hours away from behavioral health care, Wittmuss said. Through a webcam, a patient in a rural area could use telehealth solutions to talk to a doctor on a screen for medication management consultations or follow-up therapy sessions, for example. Using technology for those kinds of consultations has become a national movement, said Dr. Joseph Evans, assistant clinical director of the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska.