Authors: David Lambert John Gale David Hartley Zachariah Croll Anush Hansen
Publish Date: 2015/12/22
Volume: 43, Issue: 3, Pages: 366-379
Abstract
Telemental health has been promoted to address longstanding access barriers to rural mental health care including low supply and long travel distances Examples of rural telemental health programs are common there is a less clear picture of how widely implemented these programs are their organization staffing and services There is also a need to understand the business case for these programs and assess whether and how they might realize their promise To address these gaps a national study was conducted of rural telemental health programs including an online survey of 53 programs and followup interviews with 23 programs This article describes the current landscape and characteristics of these programs and then examines their business case Can rural telemental health programs be sustained within current delivery systems and reimbursement structures This question is explored in four areas need and demand infrastructure and workforce funding and reimbursement and organizational fit and alignment
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