Evaluation of a routine telepsychiatry service

An assessment was undertaken of a routine telepsychiatry service in rural a reas of a Canadian province as a follow-up to a pilot telepsychiatry projec t. Over two years, there were 546 consultations at the five participating g eneral hospitals, although the level of use varied considerably between the m. Health professionals expressed high satisfaction with the service. While there were equipment problems in 17% of all consultations in the second ye ar, they did not seem to affect acceptance of the technique. A cost analysi s comparing consultations provided by a visiting psychiatrist and telepsych iatry found a break-even point of 348 consultations a year. However, when u se of the videoconferencing network for administrative meetings was conside red, the break-even point was 224 consultations a year, substantially below the actual utilization of telepsychiatry. Telepsychiatry appeared to resul t in increased access to community mental health services, suggesting futur e increased demand for these. From the perspective of health authorities an d health professionals, telepsychiatry proved to be a useful and sustainabl e addition to existing mental health services.