5 The underlying premise of being “effective” is the assurance that the chosen technology is specific to the objective of the service being offered. In telemedicine and telemental health, few authors have explicitly addressed effectiveness 4 however, research appears to be changing this. The studies supporting this contemporary view have examined the effectiveness of telemental health to answer the question “Is telemental health ‘effective’ to do ‘what’ for ‘whom’ and ‘when’ at this point in time, based on its evolution?”Įffectiveness implies that telemental health works. 3 A new generation of studies on telemedicine has replaced the “primary” view of telemental health as a new and different way of providing health services to a contemporary view that it is a vehicle for providing care that is here to stay. The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has published telemental health practice guidelines, 2 as has the American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 1 In this article, we used the term “telemental health” to refer to telepsychiatry and other psychological services, as the term has been used in social science and other fields as well. Telemental health, a use of telemedicine to provide mental health assessment and treatment at a distance, enters its sixth decade as a well-known practice in the medical field-it has increased access to care, and patients and providers are very satisfied with it for a wide variety of services. Future directions suggest the need for more research on service models, specific disorders, the issues relevant to culture and language, and cost. Conclusions: Telemental health is effective and increases access to care. In addition, this review has identified new models of care (i.e., collaborative care, asynchronous, mobile) with equally positive outcomes. Results: Telemental health is effective for diagnosis and assessment across many populations (adult, child, geriatric, and ethnic) and for disorders in many settings (emergency, home health) and appears to be comparable to in-person care. Terms for the search included, but were not limited to, telepsychiatry, effectiveness, mental health, e-health, videoconferencing, telemedicine, cost, access, and international. Materials and Methods: The authors reviewed the published literature to synthesize information on what is and what is not effective related to telemental health. Research in telemental health-in this article mainly referring to telepsychiatry and psychological services-has advanced rapidly since 2003, and a new effectiveness review is needed. Introduction: The effectiveness of any new technology is typically measured in order to determine whether it successfully achieves equal or superior objectives over what is currently offered.
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