"Are You on the Phone Track, Are You on the Video Track, Are You on the In-Person Track?": Outpatient Healthcare Social Workers' Experiences with Telehealth.

This article examines outpatient healthcare social workers' experiences with telehealth, focusing on its impact on patients, especially those from safety net populations. Based on semistructured interviews with 21 social workers from two urban medical centers, three main themes emerged: facilitators and barriers to telehealth access; telehealth's positive and negative effects on patient engagement, assessment, and intervention; and social workers' work satisfaction and dissatisfaction related to telehealth. Findings highlight telehealth's benefits in reducing barriers such as transportation and illness, while also identifying challenges including limited technology access, privacy concerns, and difficulties serving certain populations like children, non-English speakers, and patients in crisis. The study underscores the need for nuanced, context-specific guidelines to optimize telehealth use and advocates for social workers' roles in promoting equitable, patient-centered telehealth practices.