Eureka, Calif.-based St. Joseph Hospital introduced a mobile telepsychiatry machine into its emergency room, KIEM-TV reports.
The video-connected machine enables a remote psychiatrist to conduct a psychiatric evaluation on patients in need who present at the ER.
In the past, a patient in need of psychiatric evaluation would have had to wait in the ER — sometimes overnight — for a specialist to arrive in person, according to KIEM-TV.