Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/644379
DESPITE A NUMBER OF BARRIERS, INDUSTRY OBSERVERS AND CLINICIANS SAY TELEMENTAL HE ALTH IS AN EFFECTIVE ME THOD BOTH FOR DELIVERING CARE AND DE ALING WITH THE DE ARTH OF MENTAL HE ALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS. TELEMENTAL HEALTH — the delivery of long-distance psychiatric and psycho- logical services through electronic means such as video teleconferences — has been used by the U.S. Department of Veterans Aff airs and other government agencies for more than 20 years. In the past 10 to 15 years, increasing numbers of mental health practitioners outside government have followed suit. Today, the United States has roughly 200 general telemedicine networks, and industry leaders predict telemental health will be one of the most impactful fi elds within telemedicine in coming years. "The market penetration [of telemedi- cine] is at 15 percent currently, and it's growing at a clip of 18 percent each year — which is very high growth" says Harrison Tyner, Co-founder and CEO of WeCounsel Solutions LLC, a Chattanooga, Tennessee- based company that seeks to increase access to mental health care through technology. "These years we're currently in are ... the growth stage in the industry." THE SAME BUT DIFFERENT The goal of telemental health is to deliver services across distances while closely emulating an in-person session. The same care is rendered, and the session is conducted in the same manner, notes Joshua Klapow, PhD, clinical psychologist, Chief Science Offi cer of ChipRewards Inc., a Birmingham, Alabama-based company that assists companies in developing health incentive programs. "The psychotherapeutic process is not fundamentally diff erent," Klapow says, "but the delivery is." Technological advances make it possible for clinicians to monitor patients' vital signs and access their charts and similar BY BRITTAIN WHITESIDE-GALLOWAY Tapping into Telemental Health to Address a Provider Shortage 2 4