Psychiatry and telemedicine

Donna Cusano

Psychiatry, to this reporter, was the least covered clinical area at the recent Connected Health Symposium, with only one panel on behavioral health mainly focused on online self-assessment.  Yet this is an area where quality one-on-one connectedness makes critical differences.  Here is how Princeton (NJ) House Behavioral Health is working with the Princeton HealthCare System–in the suburbs, not the typical rural area–to use telepsychiatry (a new term!) for assessment in a crisis setting on nights and weekends, when demand is greatest. Emergency room wait time has been reduced from up to 10 hours to 2-3.  The service is expanding to regional facilities and medical centers.  Article