Telepsychiatry as a routine service - the perspective of the patient

Patient perspectives were examined as part of an assessment of a routine te lepsychiatry service in rural Alberta. Information was gathered through sel f-report questionnaires and telephone interviews. Of 379 questionnaires dis tributed to patients, 230 (61%) were returned. Of the patients who complete d questionnaires, 89% reported being satisfied with the service and 96-99% were satisfied with the equipment and the room. Twenty-nine of 31 patients who were interviewed by telephone preferred telepsychiatry to waiting for a consultation, were willing to use the service again and would recommend te lepsychiatry to a friend. While 25 of these 31 patients preferred telepsych iatry to travelling to a consultation, 15 indicated that they would prefer a face-to-face interview to telepsychiatry and a further seven were unsure. Twenty-three of the 31 patients interviewed would have had to miss time fr om work or pay for child care in order to travel to a conventional psychiat ric consultation. The availability of telepsychiatry led to an estimated co st saving of $210 per consultation for patients who would otherwise have ha d to travel. From the patient's perspective, telepsychiatry was an acceptab le technique in the management of mental health difficulties that both incr eased access to services and produced cost savings.