Telepsychiatric Evaluation and Consultation in Emergency Care Settings

Telepsychiatric care in the emergency setting is a viable and accessible modality that helps address the needs of patients, families, and communities. An expanding literature base for telepsychiatry in multiple clinical settings has shown benefits, including increased access to care, equal efficacy to face-to-face encounters, cost efficiency, decreased wait times, decreased unnecessary psychiatric hospitalizations, and high levels of patient satisfaction. The evidence base for emergency telepsychiatry is growing for pediatric populations. Increased use of the modality is part of the solution to address the high demand for pediatric psychiatric expertise in emergency rooms and to help bridge service gaps in parts of the country.