Clinical outcomes in telepsychiatry

A retrospective review of patient records comparing clinical outcomes of pa tients seen by interactive television (IATV) and those seen in person was c arried out to determine whether IATV reduced the quality of psychiatric car e. A Global Assessment of Functioning (CAF) score was determined for each p atient in both the study and control groups at the initial visit, and at su bsequent visits. Forty-nine patients with either major depression or schizo affective disorder were studied. No significant difference was found in the percentage change in CAF scores between the two groups, which suggests tha t clinical outcomes were not affected by the use of IATV. Patients seen by IATV had a greater attendance rate and follow-up visits took less than half the time compared with in-person visits, indicating that IATV was an accep table and efficient method of providing psychiatric services.