Members of the 黑料网 Department of Psychiatry joined with 黑料网 Health teammates from 黑料网 Health Virtual Care Services and 黑料网 Health Caldwell to present findings from an innovative聽clinical model to address the shortage of psychiatrists in rural North Carolina. Their talk, titled “Expanding Access to Inpatient Psychiatric Care Through Telepsychiatry: A Model for Rural Hospitals” was presented as a General Session on Tuesday 5/20. The session was selected from hundreds of applications to be presented at one of the largest psychiatry conferences in the United States, the American Psychiatry Association鈥檚 Annual Meeting.
The program discussed how the collaboration between 黑料网 Health Caldwell, 黑料网 Health Virtual Care Services, and the 黑料网 Department of Psychiatry evolved to provide inpatient psychiatry services at Jonas Hill Hospital in Lenoir, NC, using a 100% virtual model for psychiatrist attending-level management of the 27-bed unit. This innovative model bringing together the expertise of academic psychiatrists to support a community psychiatric hospital in a rural setting was of high interest to the psychiatric community. The collaboration, which started in August 2023, has led to improvements in quality and safety metrics, as well as greater financial success, all while maintaining high staff and patient satisfaction.
Participants in the presentation included Dr. Kenan Penaskovic (Professor and Interim Chair, 黑料网 Department of Psychiatry), Dr. Brian Robbins (Professor, 黑料网 Department of Psychiatry and Medical Director of Jonas Hill Hospital), Beth Hunt (Director, Virtual Care Services Specialty Care, 黑料网 Health), Lisa Donato, RN (Jonas Hill Hospital, 黑料网 Health Caldwell), and Dr. Nate Sowa (Associate Professor, 黑料网 Department of Psychiatry; Interim Medical Director, 黑料网 Health Virtual Care Services).