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Telepsychiatry 75378
What is Telepsychiatry?
Telemedicine refers to the provision of health care remotely using technology. Most often, this is done via videoconferencing. Telepsychiatry is a subset that of telemedicine. It can include psychiatric evaluations and therapy (individual therapy or group therapy), patient education and medication management. Telepsychiatry 75378
Telepsychiatry can involve direct interaction between a psychiatrist and the patient. This includes psychiatrists who provide mental health care consultation and expertise to primary care providers. Mental health care can be delivered in live, interactive communication. You can also record medical information (images and videos, etc.). Sending this information to a remote site for review later. Telepsychiatry 75378
Benefits
Video-based telepsychiatry helps meet patients' needs for convenient, affordable, and readily accessible mental health services. Patients can reap the benefits of it in many ways. Telepsychiatry 75378
- Access to mental health specialist care in rural areas can be improved.
- Take care of the patient at their location
- Integrating primary and behavioral health care can lead to improved outcomes.
- Reducing the number of trips to the emergency department
Reduce delays in care
- Improve continuity of care and follow-up
- Reduce the need for time off work, childcare services, etc. to access appointments far away
- Reduce transportation barriers such as transportation inaccessibility or long driving distances.
- Reduce the barrier of stigma
While some people may be reluctant or feel awkward talking to a person on a screen, experience shows most people are comfortable with it. Some people may be more relaxed and willing to open up from the comfort of their home or a convenient local facility. Also, this will likely be less of a problem as people become more familiar and comfortable with video communication in everyday life. Telepsychiatry 75378
Telepsychiatry allows psychiatrists the ability to see more patients from distant locations. Psychiatrists and other clinicians need to be licensed in the state(s) where the patient they are working with is located. State licensing boards and legislatures view the location of the patient as the place where "the practice of medicine" occurs. Telepsychiatry 75378
Telepsychiatry can have the drawback of not having the psychiatrist and patient in the same room. However, it can provide enhanced security and privacy for many patients. Telepsychiatry 75378
Evidence for Effectiveness
Telepsychiatry is proven to be effective. Research has shown that patients, psychiatrists, as well as other professionals, are satisfied with it. Telepsychiatry is equivalent to in-person care in diagnostic accuracy, treatment effectiveness, quality of care, and patient satisfaction. In-person care is equivalent in terms of confidentiality and patient privacy. Telepsychiatry 75378
Research also shows that all age groups experience positive overall. Children, adolescents, as well as adults, have good experiences with assessment and treatment (medications and therapy). There are even people for which telemedicine may be preferable to in-person care, for example, people with autism or severe anxiety disorders and patients with physical limitations may find the remote treatment particularly useful. Telepsychiatry 75378
Telepsychiatry is particularly effective in treating PTSD, depression and ADHD. You can find more information on the evidence for telepsychiatry. Telepsychiatry 75378
Used in a Variety of Settings
Telepsychiatry can be used in many settings including outpatient clinics and hospitals, private practice, schools, nursing homes, military treatment facilities, and correctional facilities. Telepsychiatry 75378
Patients can schedule appointments individually with a psychiatrist or therapist for a live video appointment. This can be with a regular provider if they offer the service or through one of a number of companies offering access to mental health clinicians for video appointments. As with an in-person appointment, patients should prepare ahead. Have any relevant records and information, including prescriptions, and have a list of questions to address. Telepsychiatry 75378
Telepsychiatry is helping bring more timely psychiatric care to emergency rooms. An estimated one in eight emergency room visits involves a mental health and/or substance use condition, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Many emergency rooms are not equipped to handle people with serious mental health issues and do not have psychiatrists or other mental health clinicians on staff to assess and treat mental health problems. A 2016 poll of emergency room physicians found only 17 percent reported having a psychiatrist on call to respond to psychiatric emergencies. Telepsychiatry 75378
Telepsychiatry can be used in nursing homes for both ongoing psychiatric evaluations and care as well as emergency intervention. This is done when it might not be possible to find a local psychiatrist. Many states use telepsychiatry in corrections facilities where inmates frequently require ongoing mental health care. Telepsychiatry 75378
Insurance and Cost
Currently, 43 states and the District of Columbia have laws that govern private payer reimbursement for telehealth Telepsychiatry 75378
Washington, D.C. and fifty states reimburse live video telehealth services in Medicaid fee for service. Comparatively, only 16 state Medicaid programs reimburse for store-and-forward services ("asynchronous telemedicine"). Telepsychiatry 75378
That said, state Medicaid policies, rules, and laws are continuing to evolve. Medicare will reimburse for telepsychiatry services if the community is considered rural, and requires the patient to report to an "Originating Site," unless that patient has a substance use disorder (Medicare will also cover any co-occurring diagnosis), under the SUPPORT Act. During a public health emergency, Medicare beneficiaries, regardless of geographic location, may be seen in the home (Medicare Telemedicine Health Care Fact Sheet). Telepsychiatry 75378
Definition of Terms
Asynchronous or "Store and Forward": Capture and then transfer data from one site to another through the use of a camera or similar device that records (stores) an image that is sent (forwarded) via telecommunication to another site for consultation.
Distant Site: Site at which the physician or other licensed practitioner delivering the service is located at the time the service is provided via a telecommunications system. eHealth: Health care practice supported by electronic processes and communication.
Electronic Health Record (EHR): A systematic collection of electronic health information about individual patients or populations that is recorded in digital format and capable of being shared across health care settings via information networks or exchanges. EHRs generally include patient demographics, medical history, medication, allergies, immunization status, laboratory test results, radiology, and other medical images, vital signs, characteristics such as age and weight, and billing information.
E-Prescribing is Electronic generation, transmission and filling medical prescriptions. This is in contrast to traditional paper prescriptions and faxed ones. E-prescribing is a way for qualified health care professionals to send prescriptions and renewals to local or mail-order pharmacies.
HIPAA is Acronym to Health Information Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information, sets national standards for the security of electronically protected health information, and protects identifiable information being used to analyze patient safety events and improve patient safety. More about HIPAA.
Originating Site: Location of the patient at the time the service is provided via a telecommunications system.
Synchronous: Interactive video connections that transmit information in both directions during the same time period.
Teleconferencing - Interactive electronic communication between multiple users at different sites (voice, video and/or data transmission).
Teleconsultation: Consultation between a provider and specialist located at a distance using either store and forward telemedicine or real-time videoconferencing.
Telehealth and Telemedicine: Telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve patients' health status. Telemedicine is closely associated with the term "telehealth", which is used to describe a wider definition of remote healthcare that does not always include clinical services. Videoconferencing, the transmission of still images, e-health including patient portals, remote monitoring of vital signs, and nursing call centers are all considered part of telemedicine and telehealth. Telemedicine is not a separate medical specialty. Telemedicine can include a variety of services and programs that are offered to the patient.
Videoconferencing: Real-time transmission of digital video images between multiple locations.
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