Telehealth and neuropsychological assessment: New opportunities for psychologists.

Abstract

The advent of telehealth technology gives psychologists new opportunities to expand their practices in a cost-effective manner, but little is known about telehealth efficacy and costs. This study of 49 neuropsychology clients interviewed using videoconferencing and 49 matched in-person controls yielded no group differences in client ratings of interpersonal factors. Telehealth clients were more likely to want to repeat their experience, but psychologist satisfaction was lower foe telehealth sessions. Telehealth costs were significandy lower than in-person costs. Concerns about ethical issues, billing, and licensure must be addressed to help practitioners capitalize on new telehealth opportunities.How will psychologists use technology in the new millennium to expand and extend clinical practice? The renaissance of telehealth programs in the past decade has brought enormous opportunities for psychologists to meet behavioral health needs of underserved populations, particularly in high-need rural areas (Conrad, 1998). The American Psychological Association (APA) has met practitioners' vigorous interests by developing special telehealth sections in practice journals (e.g., Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 1998) and telehealth forums at recent APA annual meetings, as well as legislative and advocacy efforts.This article focuses on the specific application of telehealth in direct clinical care through the use of videoconferencing. Using two-way simultaneous interactive video teleconferencing, persons at two or more sites interact with each other in real time over television full-motion video monitors. LAURA SCHOPP received her PhD in 1995 from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is a neuropsychologist on the faculty of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine. She conducts research programs in traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, with particular interest in telehealth among rehabilitation populations. BRICK JOHNSTONE received his PhD in 1988 from the University of Georgia. He is an associate professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is the director of the Missouri Model Brain Injury System and has published widely in neuropsychology and traumatic brain injury. DEB MERRELL received her MS in 1990 from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is a senior counselor with the Missouri Division of Vocational Rehabilitation in the rural setting of Rolla, MO. She specializes in vocational rehabilitation needs of adults with brain injury.

A Web-based family problem-solving intervention for families of children with traumatic brain injury

“…It is noteworthy that virtually all participants with prior psychotherapy experience in the present project reported that FPS was more helpful than prior experiences with psychotherapy. Other investigators (see Schopp, Johnstone, & Merrell, 2000) have also found that telehealth clients report more positive experiences than their face-to-face counterparts. Although the accessibility of on-line FPS likely contributed to this preference, participants also noted the structured nature of the intervention and its emphasis on building skills and solving problems.…”

“…Previous researchers (Kleiner, Akers, Burke, & Werner, 2002;Schopp et al, 2000) have reported that clinicians are less comfortable with incorporating new technology into their practice than are the consumers of health services. Likewise, the therapist in this study noted the awkwardness of not being able to clearly see and hear all participants at all times.…”

Technology Based Counseling: Perspectives of Turkish Counselors

“…Some research focused on whether face-to-face counseling or online counseling is effective, the results indicate that both counseling types are effective (Magaletta, Fagan, & Peyrot, 2000). Other research focused of which type of counseling is preferred by clients and results from that study indicate that people prefer online counseling over faceto-face counseling (Schopp, Johnstone, & Merrell, 2000).…”

The Effectiveness of Telemental Health Applications: A Review

“…44 A study on use of telemedicine for clients at a rural hospital found that telemedicine was cheaper than face-to-face options and received similar ratings from clients, though there were lower ratings for video conferencing from psychologists. 45 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The studies in this group [46][47][48] made use of the computer-aided system BT STEPS, which has an interactive voice response approach.…”