North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory announced a statewide telepsychiatry program will launch in January 2014 to reduce emergency department crowding and increase access to mental healthcare.
The state will invest $4 million in the two-year Statewide Telepsychiatry Program, which will use telemedicine to connect North Carolina hospital ED patients with mental health professionals who can diagnose and treat patients in real time. The East Carolina University Center for Telepsychiatry in Greenville, N.C., will "develop a provider network and establish the needed technology infrastructure and guidelines for administering the program," according to the news release.
The program builds on ECU Center for Telepsychiatry and e-Behavioral Health, and the Albemarle Hospital Foundation Telepsychiatry Project. Initial results of the Albemarle project, which began in March 2011, show a reduction in the average length of stay for ED patients discharged to inpatient treatment from 48 hours to 22.5 hours. The initiative also reduced 30-day recidivism rates and involuntary commitments to inpatient psychiatric facilities, according to the release.
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