Telepsychiatry and integrated primary care: setting expectations and creating an effective process for success

Jacqueline Calderone; Amy Lopez; Sarah Schwenk; Joel Yager; Jay H Shore

doi:10.21037/mhealth.2020.02.01

Telepsychiatry and integrated primary care: setting expectations and creating an effective process for success

Mhealth. 2020 Jul 5:6:29. doi: 10.21037/mhealth.2020.02.01. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Jacqueline Calderone¹, Amy Lopez², Sarah Schwenk², Joel Yager³, Jay H Shore¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine and Psychiatry, Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
² Department of Family Medicine, Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
³ Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.

Abstract

Telepsychiatry, especially in the form of live interactive videoconferencing, has greatly advanced the availability and use of specialist psychiatric consultations in primary care settings. Nevertheless, reliance on telepsychiatry, with corresponding decreases in direct face-to-face interaction between primary care providers and psychiatrists, can create unique challenges such as reducing the availability of non-verbal cues, and preventing the informal interactions that are so necessary for clarifying clinical and process details and for building essential team-based trust and rapport. Written from the perspective of an integrated psychiatrist, this article offers recommendations for a formal process to optimize virtual care coordination by setting clear expectations and providing communication tools for an effective and efficient telepsychiatry enabled integrated service.

Keywords: Telepsychiatry; collaborative care; interdisciplinary; interprofessional; primary care; primary care teams; psychiatric consults; telehealth, integrated care.

Publication types

Review