North Carolina Statewide Telepsychiatry Program (NC-STeP): Using telepsychiatry to improve access to evidence-based care
Authors: Saeed S. 
Published: May 2016

Mental disorders are common [1] and they are associated with high levels of distress, morbidity, disability, and mortality. We know today that psychiatric treatments work and there is extensive evidence and agreement on effective mental health practices for persons with these disorders. Unfortunately, at a time when treatment for psychiatric illness has never been more effective, many people with these disorders do not have access to psychiatric services due to the shortage, and maldistribution of providers, especially psychiatrists. This has resulted in patients going to hospital emergency departments to seek services resulting in long lengths of stay and boarding of psychiatric patients in hospital emergency departments. A growing body of literature now suggests that the use of telepsychiatry to provide mental health care has the potential to mitigate the workforce shortage that directly affects access to care, especially in remote and underserved areas [2,3].

The North Carolina Statewide Telepsychiatry Program (NC-STeP) was developed in response to NC Session Law 2013-360. The vision of NC-STeP is to assure that if an individual experiencing an acute behavioral health crisis enters an emergency department of a hospital anywhere in the state of North Carolina, s/he receives timely, evidence-based psychiatric treatment through this program. Aside from helping address the problems associated with access to mental health care, NC-STeP is helping North Carolina face a pressing and difficult challenge in the healthcare delivery system today: the integration of science-based treatment practices into routine clinical care. East Carolina University's Center for Telepsychiatry is the home for this statewide program, which is connecting 80-85 hospital emergency departments across the state of North Carolina. The plan for NC-STeP was developed in collaboration with a workgroup of key stakeholders including representatives from Universities in NC, hospitals/healthcare systems, NC Hospital Association, NC Psychiatric Association, LME-MCOs, NC-Department of HHS, and many others. The NC General Assembly has appropriated $4 million over two years to fund the program. The program is also partially funded by the Duke Endowment.

The program has already connected 56 of the projected 85 hospitals in the first 18 months since its inception and over 12,000 encounters have been successfully completed during this time. A web portal has been designed and implemented that combines scheduling, EMR, HIE functions, and data management systems. This presentation will provide current program data on the length of stay, dispositions, IVC status, and other parameters for all ED patients who received telepsychiatry services. NC-STeP is now positioned well to create collaborative linkages and develop innovative models for the mental health care delivery by connecting psychiatric providers with EDs and Hospitals, Community-based mental health providers, Primary Care Providers, FQHCs and Public Health Clinics, and others. NC-STeP is positioned well to build capacity by taking care of patients in community-based settings and by creating collaborative linkages across continuums of care. By doing so, the program implements evidence-based practice to make recovery possible for patients that it serves.

Disclosure of interest

The author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.