Using the Hub and Spoke Model of Telemental Health to Expand the Reach of Community Based Care in the United States.

Community-based agencies are challenged with providing mental health care services with limited resources. When services are not provided, children are at increased risk for ongoing symptoms. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the hub and spoke model of telemental services on the quality of function, access to care, and medication management. A retrospective case controlled design was used to examine study objectives. Five hundred and fifty-seven charts were reviewed for persons aged 6 to 17 from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2015 and after propensity score matching was applied, 86 remained for analysis. Seventy-nine persons out of 301 (26%) in the comparison group; 43 persons out of 256 (17%) in the treatment group were selected due to having complete records. Results of the T-test suggested that telemental services were not inferior to face to face services. Access to care, analyzed via the Chi-Squared test, increased significantly across geographic regions and among person with different living arrangements. A T-test was conducted to compare medication non-adherence between groups; no statistical significance was noted. Telemental services are a viable option to increase access to community-based care and increase quality of function.