Trends

A RAND study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research finds that telehealth usage soared during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was behavioral health diagnoses largely driving the surge, not COVID-related symptoms.

Recent provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that about 81,230 drug overdose deaths occurred in the U.S. between June 2019 and May 2020—the highest number of overdose deaths in a 12-month period in U.S. history.

An increase in demand for treatment services and stockpiles of dollars for private equity investors who are itching to spend could spark a hotbed of M&A activity in the behavioral health sector, particularly for substance use disorder treatment providers, Braff Group president Dexter Braff told TCIV attendees.

A combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and a rise in e-commerce has changed familiar traffic patterns around the globe for several illicit substances, Stephen McConachie, chief operations manager for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told Cocaine, Meth & Stimulant Summit attendees in a Sunday session.