Frustrated telehealth providers say their businesses face ‘doom and gloom’

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By Katie Palmer, Mohana Ravindranath, and Mario Aguilar

Oct. 10, 2024

Telehealth providers treating opioid use disorder, ADHD, and women’s health issues say the sector is in a state of frustration and chaos as the pandemic-era flexibilities that allowed their businesses to thrive are set to end with no new rules in sight.

With just months to go before the ability to prescribe controlled substances online dramatically changes overnight, the vacuum of information is forcing them to devote significant energy preparing for the unknown. Companies have hired former regulatory officials to understand how hypothetical policies might impact them, and made backup plans based on speculative, third-hand sketches of proposed rules that might replace virtual prescribing flexibilities that began during the pandemic.

A feeling of “doom and gloom” hangs over telehealth entrepreneurs whose care involves controlled substances, according to Nicholas Mercadante, the CEO of PursueCare, which delivers virtual opioid use disorder treatment in 11 states. Planning amid uncertainty consumes time and resources that could be devoted to growing businesses or improving patient care, they claim, while putting more financial strain on startups that are already feeling a post-pandemic pinch.

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Katie Palmer
Health Tech Correspondent
Katie Palmer covers telehealth, clinical artificial intelligence, and the health data economy — with an emphasis on the impacts of digital health care for patients, providers, and businesses.
Mohana Ravindranath
Bay Area Correspondent
Mohana Ravindranath was a Bay Area correspondent covering health tech at STAT.
Mario Aguilar
Health Tech Correspondent
Mario Aguilar covers technology in health care, including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, wearable devices, telehealth, and digital therapeutics. His stories explore how tech is changing the practice of health care and the business and policy challenges to realizing tech’s promise. He’s also the co-author of the free, twice weekly STAT Health Tech newsletter.