A Systematic Review of the Use of Telepsychiatry in Acute Settings

Abstract

Telepsychiatry is increasingly being used in many parts of the world. We performed a systematic review of the literature on the use of telepsychiatry in acute treatment settings using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO from inception to June 2013 using the following key words: acute telepsychiatry, teleconsultation, teleconferencing, telemedicine, emergency telepsychiatry, and e-mental health. Only articles in English were included. All study abstracts were reviewed by both authors independently to assess whether the topic of the paper was relevant to the review. References were selected independently until no new papers were found. If there was a disagreement, a discussion between the authors took place. A leading expert in this field was contacted to check for gray literature. The review included 23 papers. No meta-analyses or systematic reviews were found. The main results are (1) that patients have a positive attitude toward the technology and show a high level of satisfaction with telepsychiatry, (2) that the use of telepsychiatry is correlated with decreased admissions to psychiatric inpatient units, (3) that the quality of clinical interaction in telepsychiatry is similar to that in face-to-face care, and (4) that telepsychiatry seems to be cost effective. The use of telepsychiatry seems to be a viable and relatively inexpensive option for use in places where access to emergency services is difficult.

Challenges and Priorities in Responding to COVID-19 in Inpatient Psychiatry

“…Also, providers working in research and nonclinical administrative roles can be reassigned to clinical care as part of a back-up pool. In addition, telepsychiatry can be an important consideration for delivering inpatient services to minimize simultaneous exposure of a high number of clinical providers (9). Thus staff can still perform clinical care while minimizing their exposure to the hospital.…”

Telehealth Increases Access to Care for Children Dealing with Suicidality, Depression, and Anxiety in Rural Emergency Departments

“…[14][15][16] Evaluating telemental health care processes is important to meet or exceed standards of care. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Telehealth provides ready access to MH care in underserved areas, thus potentially ''leveling the playing field'' for participating rural ED patients and providers by mitigating the social determinants of health that often underlie rural health disparities. Social determinants of health include remote geographic location, provider shortage areas, socioeconomic disadvantages such as living at or below the poverty level, and a lack of insurance coverage.…”

“…In addition to the dramatic increase ob-served in substance abuse cases in the adult study participants compared with peds participants, there were also two adult patients with homicidal ideation treated in the 25-44 age range in the rural EDs for the current study. 19 Thus, future implementation of an evidence-based plan to promote MH wellness, preventive care, and education, as well as early triage and screening to support patient/provider safety, 5,9,11 becomes imperative for the region's rural EDs.…”

“…[5][6][7][8] Telemental health care allows for expedient, video-based access to a psych specialty provider, and has been highlighted as an efficient and timely method for delivery of MH care that is similar in effectiveness to in-person care. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Once any emergent, life-saving physical needs have been addressed, the generalist ED (non-psych) providers can utilize telemental health care to subsequently address a patient's emergent psych care needs.…”

Telepsychiatry in India - Where Do We Stand? A Comparative Review between Global and Indian Telepsychiatry Programs

“…Out of the 360 articles obtained after database search, we finally identified 32 relevant articles[910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940] and those were included in our review. The details of the study types, designs, and outcomes are described in Table 1.…”