BRIEF REPORT Pilot assessment of a virtual intensive outpatient program for adults with eating disorders Dan V. Blalock 1,2 | Daniel Le Grange 3 | Craig Johnson 4 | Alan Duffy 4 | Jamie Manwaring 4 | Casey N. Tallent 4 | Karen Schneller 4 | Ashley M. Solomon 4 | Philip S. Mehler 4,5,6 | Susan F. McClanahan 4,7,8 | Renee D. Rienecke 4,7 1 Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 2 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina 3 Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, California 4 Eating Recover Center and Insight Behavioral Health Centers, Denver, Colorado 5 ACUTE, at Denver Health, Denver, Colorado 6 Department of Medicine, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado 7 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois 8 Department of Psychiatry, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois Correspondence Renee D. Rienecke, Eating Recovery Center/Insight Behavioral Health Centers, 333 N. Michigan Avenue, Ste. 1900, Chicago IL 60601. Email: renee.rienecke@ercinsight.com Abstract Access to evidence-based treatment for eating disorders is severely limited by patient barriers and available clinician training. While clinical parameters often point to the need for a high level of care, patients may resist pursuing higher levels of care due to these barriers. One option that might mitigate such obsta- cles is the provision of a higher level of care via internet-based treatment for eat- ing disorders. We sought to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary clinical outcomes associated with treatment of eating disorders through virtual intensive outpatient programming (VIOP). Fifty-seven patients meeting DSM-5 criteria for an eating disorder participated in VIOP. Of the 57 patients in VIOP treatment, 3 did not complete voluntary measures at admis- sion or discharge, and 9 additional patients did not complete voluntary mea- sures at discharge. Overall, 45 VIOP patients completed admission and discharge assessments, including a net promoter score (NPS) question assessing patient acceptability. Recruitment, treatment adherence, and completion of assessments in VIOP were feasible and acceptable. VIOP patients showed signif- icant and clinically meaningful improvements in all outcomes measured, including self-reported eating disorder symptoms, depression, self-esteem, qual- ity of life, and overall satisfaction. VIOP appears feasible, acceptable, and evi- dences clinically meaningful changes in eating and mood disorder symptoms. KEYWORDS eating disorders, higher level of care, telehealth, virtual 1 | INTRODUCTION In reviewing critical gaps in the treatment of eating disorders, Kazdin et al. (2017) discuss limitations of the dominant model of treatment delivery for eating disor- ders – facility-based visits, administered by highly trained professionals, held at a clinic or other health care facility. Current estimates suggest only 23% of adult eating disordered patients access treatment delivered in this manner (Hart, Granillo, Jorm, & Paxton, 2011). The most frequently reported obstacles include stigma, denial of serious illness, cost, time, and negative attitudes towards treatment. (Ali et al., 2017). Moreover, the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has further underscored the need to develop flexible methods to meet patients' treatment needs. Virtual delivery of care is a Received: 6 May 2020 Revised: 28 July 2020 Accepted: 2 August 2020 DOI: 10.1002/erv.2785 Eur Eat Disorders Rev. 2020;1–7. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/erv © 2020 Eating Disorders Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1