TY - JOUR
PY - 2022//
TI - Integrating Telepsychiatry Into Rural Primary Care for Upstream Prevention: Feasibility Case Study of the Faith Net Program
JO - Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing
A1 - Agley, Jon
A1 - Barnes, Priscilla
A1 - Tidd, David
A1 - Todd, Amy
A1 - Friedman, Kendra
A1 - Gordon, Shelby
A1 - Richardson, Jodi
A1 - Delong, Janet
SP - e469580221097428
EP - e469580221097428
VL - 59
IS -
N2 - INTRODUCTION: For decades, there has been a deficit of mental health services in rural areas of the United States. Beyond that longstanding need, the COVID-19 pandemic has reportedly increased the prevalence of unmet mental health needs among adults. Presently, many non-critical but urgent mental health concerns are first identified in rural emergency departments. This report describes the results of a 6-month feasibility case study of a program to integrate telepsychiatric triage "upstream" from emergency departments in rural primary care. METHODS: At routine primary care encounters in a single midwestern rural county, patients at risk for moderate-severe or severe depression, expressing thoughts of self-harm, or otherwise presenting in a way that raised clinical concern for mental or behavioral health, were referred to on-site telepsychiatric triage. Patients whose triage indicated further concern were provided six psychiatric and/or social work encounters for stabilization and treatment. RESULTS: 68 patients were referred to telepsychiatric triage during the pilot study (.85% of the estimated adult population in the county). Of those, only two had a documented mental/behavioral health diagnosis prior to triage, but 46 were diagnosed with at least one psychiatric disorder during the program. CONCLUSIONS: This model of telepsychiatric triage was feasible in rural primary care and may support identification and mitigation of unmet mental health needs. Language: en
LA - en
SN - 0046-9580
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00469580221097428
ID - ref1
ER -