The advent of free consumer video teleconferencing equipment and inexpensive webcams has the potential to revolutionize the delivery of psychiatric treatment. The promise of telepsychiatry is realized through technology as the cost-benefit ratio for the use of this medium rapidly diminishes.
Patients may now receive counseling, medication management, and cognitive based therapies while sitting alone in their own homes. Even in the absence of an in-person examination, the standard of care for traditional outpatient psychiatry is maintained because patients are required to visit with a primary care doctor for physical examination and/or indicated laboratory tests. See my recent Letter to the Editor in Psychiatric Services.
But what are the legal, clinical, and ethical implications when one receives telepsychiatric treatment from home? What implications are there with regard to safety and malpractice? Specifically, how does this process differ from more 'traditional' clinic-based telepsychiatry, in which the patient accesses a remote specialist from a local clinic?
What impact does the Ryan Haight Act have upon the future of telepsychiatry and telemedicine in general?
I would like to invite an open discussion regarding the merits and pitfalls of the use of this medium to deliver psychiatric treatment.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
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