Telepsychiatry Services Helping To Provide Patients With The Vital Care They Need

By Harold German

HealthCare Review

4/26/05

Natural disasters like the tsunami that ripped apart the lives of millions living along the coasts of the Indian Ocean in December of 2004 are a true human tragedy, but a harsh fixture of our reality on this planet. Such tragedies incite human interest and outreach from all regions of the world, and supportive entities—such as the media and charitable organizations—can always be counted on to address the ensuing demand. While there is rarely ever a shortage of stories focusing on the horrors of these types of events, few focus on how people find innovative ways to manage through these ordeals.

Brian Levin’s constant brushes with nature are unlike most, and his coping method is uncannily brilliant. Levin is the coordinator of Telepsychiatry Services of Marlton, NJ-based CFG Health Systems, LLC (www.cfghealthsystems.com), a behavioral health care service provider focused on the delivery of quality mental health services.

Levin and his staff manage by using a revolutionary technology known as telemedicine, which allows medical practitioners to disseminate medical information from one site to another using video conferencing for the health and education of patients, regardless of location. Levin’s telepsychiatry is a growing methodology generated directly from the tremendous impact and success telemedicine has had with medical institutions.

Levin’s latest encounter with Mother Nature came in the form of the Jan. 23 blizzard that hit the northeast. The treacherous storm was blamed for no less than 200 deaths, and incapacitated all airports and mass transit terminals in the northeast.

“The blizzard caused a local state of emergency, and our patients’ critical treatment would have been delayed if it wasn’t for telepsychiatry,” Levin said. “We use telepsychiatry seven days a week, 365 days a year. And regardless of external conditions, we are able to provide our patients with the vital care they need.”

Prior to CFG bringing telepsychiatry to a screening center in Cumberland County, there was no after-hours, face-to-face psychiatric coverage, which is mandatory for a psychiatric commitment.

“Cumberland is a rural and underserved county,” Levin said, “and if roads were blocked due to a storm, any patient needing care after hours would be held over until the next morning when the next psychiatrist would come on duty. This meant patients and their family members had to wait a possible 12 to 14 hours for medical attention. Fortunately for us, those days are over.”

The technology has been so effective that CFG has expanded it to other facilities, including the Atlantic City Medical Center of South Jersey and the Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County. CFG also provides psychiatric care through telepsychiatry to two adult correctional centers (Mercer and Atlantic County Jails), in the forms of after-hours evaluations, to determine whether patients should receive psychotropic medications or be committed for psychiatric hospitalization.

Demand for this type of technology from the health care sector is soaring and equipment manufactures such as Polycom (www.polycom.com) and TANDBERG (www.tandberg.net), and service providers such as IVCi (www.ivci.com), are positioning themselves to better serve these new markets.

“Traditionally, video conferencing was used to host business meetings or to enable distance-education programs,” explained Ira M. Weinstein, senior analyst of Wainhouse Research (www.wainhouse.com), an independent market research and consulting firm focusing on rich media conferencing and collaboration.

“In recent years, however, a host of applications have emerged that leverage the immediate, face-to-face aspect of video conferencing to bridge geographical gaps and ‘virtually transport’ subject matter experts to locations around the world. As organizations continue their quest to drive down costs and improve efficiency, we expect the demand for video-empowered applications, like telemedicine, telejustice and telepsychiatry, to continue to rise.”

CFG has been successfully relying on telepsychiatry for several years and has received industry awards for its pioneering approach to long distance health care. Over the years, the technology and CFG’s approach to it has evolved.

“The cost is probably the most dramatic difference,” Levin said. “When we were starting out with this technology, we spent nearly $24,000 to purchase and install our first two units. Today the cost would be less than $5,000 per unit. The technology is also much more dependable, and the picture and sound are markedly better. Ultimately, we’ve learned patients are best served by getting real-time care when they need it, regardless of what is happening on the other side of the door.”

Harold German is the Director of Marketing for IVCi. His articles and commentaries have appeared in numerous publications, including The Economist.

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