Jeffrey DeVido1, Anna Glezer1, Linda Branagan2, Alvin Lau1, James A Bourgeois1. 1. 1 Department of Psychiatry, University of California , San Francisco, San Francisco, California. 2. 2 Telehealth Resource Center, University of California , San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Many hospitals do not have regular access to psychiatry consult services. This is well understood as a common shortage at nonacademic community hospitals (especially in rural environments, and may also be a problem at noncontiguously located smaller hospitals that are affiliated with academic medical centers in urban settings. The authors sought to deliver timely inpatient psychiatric consultation-liaison services via telemedicine to a local but physically separated hospital affiliated with an academic medical center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors collaborated with an office dedicated to the advancement of telemedicine technology at their academic medical center. They developed a telemedicine-based care model to deliver inpatient consultation-liaison psychiatry consultations to an affiliated (but physically separate) small academic hospital that did not have its own on-site consultation-liaison psychiatry team. RESULTS: The authors were able to successfully complete 30 consultations, each within 24 h. Only 1 patient was ultimately unwilling to participate in the telemedicine interview. As consultations were accomplished on same day as request, patient length of stay was unaffected. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study suggests that telemedicine is a viable model for inpatient consultation-liaison psychiatry services to hospitals without on-site psychiatry resources and represents a viable alternative model of service delivery.
BACKGROUND: Many hospitals do not have regular access to psychiatry consult services. This is well understood as a common shortage at nonacademic community hospitals (especially in rural environments, and may also be a problem at noncontiguously located smaller hospitals that are affiliated with academic medical centers in urban settings. The authors sought to deliver timely inpatient psychiatric consultation-liaison services via telemedicine to a local but physically separated hospital affiliated with an academic medical center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors collaborated with an office dedicated to the advancement of telemedicine technology at their academic medical center. They developed a telemedicine-based care model to deliver inpatient consultation-liaison psychiatry consultations to an affiliated (but physically separate) small academic hospital that did not have its own on-site consultation-liaison psychiatry team. RESULTS: The authors were able to successfully complete 30 consultations, each within 24 h. Only 1 patient was ultimately unwilling to participate in the telemedicine interview. As consultations were accomplished on same day as request, patient length of stay was unaffected. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study suggests that telemedicine is a viable model for inpatient consultation-liaison psychiatry services to hospitals without on-site psychiatry resources and represents a viable alternative model of service delivery.
Authors: Jonathan D Hron; Chase R Parsons; Lee Ann Williams; Marvin B Harper; Fabienne C Bourgeois Journal: Appl Clin Inform Date: 2020-07-01 Impact factor: 2.342
Authors: Khyati Brahmbhatt; Annabelle M Mournet; Nasuh Malas; Claire DeSouza; Jeanne Greenblatt; Khalid I Afzal; Lisa L Giles; Janet Charoensook; Vera Feuer; Haniya Raza; GenaLynne C Mooneyham; Alba Pergjika; Amanda Schlesinger; Andrea Chapman; Angela Strain; Bela Gandhi; Kyle Johnson; Megan M Mroczkowski; Patricia Ibeziako; Regina Graham; Yesie Yoon; Sigita Plioplys; Catherine Fuchs; Richard J Shaw; Maryland Pao Journal: J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry Date: 2021-05-22