Telehealth: a new opportunity for out-patient psychiatric services

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems rapidly embraced technology as a means of providing care while adhering to social distancing protocols. In this brief article, we report on a new telehealth initiative recently implemented in an out-patient psychiatric setting and outline the novel role telehealth may serve in facilitating psychiatric care globally. The uptake of telehealth represents a new and exciting opportunity to increase both access to, and quality of, care for people with mental illness.

Keywords

• Telehealth
• clinical psychiatry
• bipolar affective disorders
• depressive disorders
• psychosocial interventions