A prospective satisfaction study and cost analysis of a pilot child telepsychiatry service in Newfoundland

We evaluated user satisfaction with a PC-based videoconferencing system use d for child psychiatry assessments and performed a cost analysis. Thirty pa tients (aged 5-16 years), accompanied by a parent, completed a psychiatric assessment using the videoconferencing system. One of five child psychiatri sts was randomly assigned to each assessment. Satisfaction questionnaires w ere completed after each assessment by the psychiatrist, patient and parent . Parents also completed a cost questionnaire. The telecommunications bandw idth was 336 kbit/s. The psychiatrists stated that they were either 'very s atisfied' or 'satisfied' with the telepsychiatry assessments. On a Five-poi nt Likert scale (1 = lowest, 5 = highest), 28 of the 30 parents (93%) rated their satisfaction level as 5; the other two rated it 4. All 30 parents (1 00%) stated that they 'liked' the telepsychiatry assessment and would use t he system again. Twenty-nine parents (97%) indicated that they would prefer to use the telepsychiatry system to travelling to see a child psychiatrist in person. Eleven children (aged 5-12) participated and all (100%) said th ey 'liked' using the telepsychiatry system. Five out of nine children (56%) stated they liked the 'television doctor' better than the 'real' doctor; f our said they had no preference. Nineteen adolescents (aged 13-16 years) pa rticipated and most were very satisfied or satisfied with the system. Seven teen of the 19 adolescents (89%) said they would prefer to see the psychiat rist on the videoconferencing system to travelling for an assessment, and t he same number said that they would use telepsychiatry again. The estimated total travel cost for the 30 patients was $12,849, an average of $428 per patient. The total cost of the telepsychiatry service for the th ree-month pi lot was $12,575, or $419 per patient.