Telemedicine is Transforming How Behavioral Health Patients Are Being Treated

It’s estimated that 60,000,000 Americans require some form of mental health treatment. Despite advancements in mental health understanding, fewer than half of all people living with a mental illness seek treatment. When people do get treatment, it’s not always effective. In fact, according to a study conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 13% of all patients admitted to a hospital for mental health reasons will be readmitted within thirty days.

Telemedicine Allows for Effective Behavioral Health Treatment

In order for patients to receive the care they need, they must actively engage in treatment. This can be difficult in a traditional healthcare setting. Fortunately, advances in technology have made it possible for behavioral health specialists to reach patients in new and meaningful ways.

Telemedicine allows healthcare providers to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients through telecommunications technology. Although telemedicine isn’t new, it’s gaining popularity as more people have access to the Internet.

About Telemedicine

Telemedicine began in the 1950s when a few hospitals and university medical centers began sharing information with patients over the telephone. During its early days, telemedicine was used to connect patients in remote locations with specialists that were otherwise inaccessible due to distance or other factors.

The introduction of the Internet and smart devices opened up the possibility for patients to receive care regardless of their location or ability to travel to their healthcare provider. Today, remote healthcare has become an extremely important part of our modern day lives, enabling healthcare providers to provide treatment to more patients in their homes, workplaces, or assisted living facilities.

Benefits of Telemedicine

Through telemedicine, patients that might be nervous to discuss personal matters in an unfamiliar environment can connect with behavioral health specialists from the comfort of their own home. Telemedicine also tends to cost less than conventional mental health care, allowing even more patients to receive treatment.

Receiving diagnosis and treatment sooner is extremely important, as mental health is directly linked to physical health. In fact, by providing effective behavioral health treatment to patients, behavioral health providers can cut overall healthcare spending by an average of $6,765 per person/per year.

For behavioral health providers, telemedicine provides access to multiple capabilities and technologies which can be used to provide effective interventions for patients at risk and suffering from a wide range of mental illnesses.

Let’s Talk Interactive provides behavioral health providers with the most reliable, secure video conferencing software suite available on the market. In addition to providing healthcare providers and patients with access to digital behavioral health, Let’s Talk Interactive also provides Behavioral Health Assessments by CTS. This evidence-based assessment is administered over the web and evaluates patients for seven of the most prevalent issues. This is different than most mental health screens, which only screen for one condition at a time. Through digital assessment, healthcare providers can diagnose patients faster and enable quicker, more effective treatment.

Please contact us for more information about our video conferencing and telemedicine software.