What Is Telepsychiatry?

Telepsychiatry is a new type of psychiatric care delivered through the internet instead of in person. It can be used to provide medication management and other types of therapy to patients who are unable to visit an office, or who live in a remote area and cannot find a provider. It is delivered over the internet via videoconferencing, and the patient and doctor can communicate in the same way they would over the phone.

Telepsychiatry can be used to deliver a range of specialty psychiatry services, including diagnosis and treatment of behavioral health disorders, medication management, and clinical consultation.

What Are the Benefits of Telepsychiatry?

Telepsychiatry has several benefits stemming from the convenience afforded to clients. Up to 50% of healthcare patients struggle to attend traditional in-office appointments, a big barrier to access is time and transportation concerns and costs. With telepsychiatry services patients can attend appointments without carving a chunk of time out of their day to drive, or even a lengthy transit route, to their appointment.

Telepsychiatry offers a higher accessibility rate to critical mental health services. Patients can return to their day-to-day errands immediately after the appointment, considerably lessening the burden of a time-consuming in-person visit.