Generally speaking, VTDigger is a reliable, vital source of news, a rare oasis in an ever-expanding desert of serious media. But this one? I can’t explain how it got assigned, written, edited, approved or published.

The story in question is about a new option in mental health care for those insured by BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont, and it reads like a press release from the Blues’ comms team. The only person quoted in the story is Tom Weigel, the Blues’ chief medical officer. No other viewpoints are presented. Most of the story is just a recitation of all the supposedly wonderful features of this development.

The “news,” such as it is, concerns a deal between the Blues and Valera Health, a Brooklyn-based provider of mental health telemedicine services. The agreement will increase access to mental health services by giving patients a remote option, which is nice since Vermont doesn’t have enough mental health professionals.

But c’mon, the Blues are the fifth health insurer in Vermont to partner with Valera Health, following in the footsteps of Cigna, MVP Health, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare. This isn’t some dramatic innovation. In fact, the Blues already offer mental health care through a Boston-based telehealth firm, so this is just another iteration of an existing effort.

It’s not hard to find Valera’s own press release about its new agreement with BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont, and it’s clearly the inspiration behind and the template for the Digger article. In fact, the Valera press team managed to include quotes from three separate individuals in a much shorter piece. Solid work.

The Digger story does make one brief attempt to raise an actual question about the deal, but it’s asked and answered within a single sentence:

Although healthcare by telephone or video is still not for everyone, patients nationwide and in Vermont have become more comfortable with receiving healthcare virtually…

Great, thanks. Did the reporter do independent research on this issue, or just take Weigel’s word for it that telehealth is almost-not-quite-but-really-just-as-good as in-person service? I suspect the latter. Otherwise, the piece is Hamburger Helpered with plenty of lightly-laundered PR content.

There’s not enough news here to warrant a story at all, but if you’re going to do one, you should take the time to explore the issue of patient comfort with remote mental health services. Maybe someone in the Vermont psychiatric community could have been asked whether remote service can provide the same human, personal touch as in-person counseling, or whether they see the rise of telehealth as a threat to local providers. It would also be instructive to know whether the Blues will save money when its patients use Valera instead of more traditional services. But no, none of that is addressed. Which makes this seem like an unpaid advertisement for the Blues.

Look, I know from personal experience that filling the news hole is the journalistic equivalent of pushing the boulder up a hill every damn day and not all your stories are going to be Pulitzer quality. Sometimes you’ve gotta just crank something out and move on to the next thing. But this is just sad, and it doesn’t do Digger any credit.