Telepsychiatry and patient-provider concordance.

Abstract

Telepsychiatry has become a common modality for the provision of psychiatric consultations to patients in rural regions. The aims of this study were to assess and compare patient and provider satisfaction and perceptions of access to care with telepsychiatry. Telepsychiatric consultations were given by providers based on an urban tertiary academic health centre to patients located in rural primary care clinics. Patients (n = 110) and providers (n = 10) were both highly satisfied with telepsychiatry and both believed that telepsychiatry provided patients with better access to care. Paired patient and provider survey results demonstrated a high level of concordance between patients and provider responses. Concordance between patient and provider satisfaction may contribute to adherence and positive treatment outcomes. These results provide support for the use of telepsychiatry consultations to improve patient access to psychiatric care in rural regions.