As Pennsylvania continues to battle the opioid crisis, health care professionals are examining new methods that can assist with treatment. One technology that is increasingly being used for addiction treatment is telepsychiatry, or telepsych.
The American Psychiatric Association defines telepsych as a subset of telemedicine that provides health care from a distance through technology, primarily using videoconferencing software.
Healthy Me PA sat down with Jack Cahalane, Ph.D., MPH, of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC to learn how telepsych is being used to combat the rising number of drug-related fatalities while providing psychiatric medical assistance to Pennsylvanians.
Dr, Cahalane said the lack of proper resources contributes to the opioid crisis because of the shortage of certified, specialized medical practitioners who are necessary to diagnose and treat people dependent on opioids.
“Behavioral health issues and addiction issues are handled by many, many practitioners,” he said. “Primary care physicians, and other practitioners outside of psychiatry, play a significant role in treating behavioral health disorders and addiction.”
Addiction treatment involves the medical expertise of psychiatrists and psychologists to treat mental health issues of drug-dependent people physically and psychologically. In rural Pennsylvania, however, these licensed practitioners are reduced, limiting necessary treatment for opioid-addicted patients.
A 2016 analysis of state health by The Kaiser Family Foundation found that Pennsylvanians living in rural communities are more likely to have unmet health needs and poor access to health care than those in urban communities.
Most important, rural counties had a larger percentage increase in opioid overdose deaths than urban areas, 42 percent to 34 percent, from 2015 to 2016, according to a 2016 Drug Enforcement Administration analysis of Pennsylvania drug-related fatalities.
Dr. Cahalane agrees with The National Council Medical Director Institute’s recommendation to use telepsychiatry services to meet the need for medical services and addiction rehabilitation resources in rural communities.
Telepsych involves a range of services, including psychiatric evaluations, therapy, education, and medication. The treatment options offered through telepsych provide addiction patients with resources to help them overcome their opioid dependencies remotely — an ideal solution for patients who cannot travel to urban locations.
“I think that the medical community and psychiatrists in general have become much more enthusiastic about providing those services,” Cahalane said. “And I think patients have embraced this mechanism, also.”
This format of live-feed appointments addresses the shortage of doctors in rural areas of PA, and it allows patients to connect with world-renowned psychiatric specialists all over the country from their homes, clinics, offices, and other settings.
“Allowing the psychiatrist or the behavioral health professional and the patient to communicate remotely is a very efficient and comfortable way for people to receive services,” Dr. Cahalane said.
Dr. Cahalane also told Healthy Me PA that bringing in certified, specialized practitioners improves access to mental health care and expands the variety of services that might not otherwise be available, especially for people in need of substance abuse treatment.
“Many individuals have complex behavioral health and addiction disorders that can’t be easily treated by primary care physicians and need-levels of specialization,” Dr. Cahalane said. “Telepsychiatry is one mechanism to allow services to be brought to individuals in their environment, where the individuals don’t have to come to the provider’s location.”
Our interview with Dr. Cahalane shows that by bringing medical services to the patient, including patients requiring drug addiction-recovery treatment, an end to the opioid epidemic is possible. With telepsychiatry, we can provide better medical services to reach better outcomes.