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Telemedicine and IT: Use of Digital Technology on Inpatient Units

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Inpatient Geriatric Psychiatry

Abstract

Contemporary healthcare is patient-centered with respect to quality care, access, and affordable options. Telepsychiatry (TP) is as effective as in-person care and is used across many service settings. The chapter outlines concepts, data, and findings related to three themes: (1) how TP is used to provide psychiatric care across age, population, and medical and mental health settings; (2) findings and models of inpatient TP to date, along with applications from delivery to other service settings; and (3) the application of information technology, e-health, and e-behavioral health innovations to inpatient care and outpatient follow-up.

TP is versatile in leveraging expertise across telebehavioral health professions to service settings using a variety of models. The evidence base for TP is strongest for adult, then child/adolescent, and geriatric populations—mostly for outpatient mental health and primary care settings. Preliminary outcomes for geriatrics compare favorably to in-person care in terms of satisfaction, feasibility, and outcomes. The evidence base for inpatient TP for geriatric patients is consistent with corroborative evidence from TP used in inpatient medical/surgical and emergency settings. E-health and e-behavioral health innovations are underutilized but may increase points of entry, enhance patient-provider communication, and help continuity of care and in preventing illness recurrence. Applications are available which glean information from patients and caregivers, including rating scales and assessments of cognition. Examples include digital versions of Trails A and B, and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), as well as behavior, and psychiatric symptomatology scales. Hopefully, this technology will be increasingly used in inpatient settings to assess functioning and deficits prior to admission.

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Acknowledgments

Veteran Affairs of Northern California Health Care System (VANCHCS)

Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis School of Medicine

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northern California Veterans Administration Health Care System, Mather, CA, USA

    Donald M. Hilty

  2. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Donald M. Hilty

  3. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Andreea L. Seritan

  4. University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA

    Terry Rabinowitz

  5. Division of Consultation Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT, USA

    Terry Rabinowitz

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  1. Donald M. Hilty
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Correspondence to Donald M. Hilty .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Stanford/VA Alzheimer’s Center, VA Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Howard H. Fenn

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Ana Hategan

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Baylor Scott and White Central Texas, Division College of Medicine, Texas A & M University, Health Science Center, Temple, TX, USA

    James A. Bourgeois

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Hilty, D.M., Seritan, A.L., Rabinowitz, T. (2019). Telemedicine and IT: Use of Digital Technology on Inpatient Units. In: Fenn, H., Hategan, A., Bourgeois, J. (eds) Inpatient Geriatric Psychiatry . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10401-6_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10401-6_20

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