MCHC Aims to Spread Telepsychiatry, Better Mental Health Care with IBIF Award

Nathan Woodside
Published: February 27, 2013
Related to: Chicagoland eTeam

Emergency rooms in Illinois have reached a “crisis state” when it comes to the number of mental health patients seeking treatment, according to Dr. Michael Wahl, medical director of the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council (MCHC).

Without the means to receive routine outpatient care, many with severe mental illness are showing up at emergency departments seeking help, clogging up waiting rooms and creating delays in patient care for all.

“We know that by having these patients taking up space, the overall health of everyone, whether it’s from a behavioral health standpoint, or a medical or surgical standpoint, is going to be impacted,” Wahl said.

The solution? Widely available telepsychiatry.

MCHC received a $50,000 Illinois Broadband Innovation Fund award toward a pilot program that will develop a sustainable plan to place telepsychiatry services in rural hospitals.

“If we think of video as a way to bring in psychiatrists, they can do an interview, they can do a consult, they can start the patient on the right medication,” Wahl said. “They can hasten the patient’s ability to be stabilized, so they can potentially be discharged if they’re stabilized enough with the right medications, or if they do end up being admitted, their length of stay is going to be shorter. It’s going to save money all the way around.”

Wahl said emergency personnel are primarily trained to sedate patients who could cause harm to themselves or others. However, staff cannot offer the core illness treatment such patients usually need.    

The pilot program will connect hospitals in Galena and Rochelle with psychiatric providers experienced in telemedicine.

“We’re going to see how many patients we can take care of between now and the end of the grant period, then develop a sustainable business model,” Wahl said. 

MCHC measures new programs by quality, access to care and efficiency of the care, Wahl said, and the telepsychiatry program being developed passes the sniff test.  

“Being able to get care, and get quickly, happens with this technology,” he said. “That’s going to lead to a higher quality of care.”

Wahl said the Illinois Broadband Innovation Fund grant has brought attention and drive to the program and has attracted partners for the plan, expected to cost a total of $230,000.

“Really, without this funding, we wouldn’t be on the track to a sustainable program,” he said. “We’d still be trying to figure out how to get it started. This really is going to put us six months or a year ahead of the game.”

Wahl added that high quality broadband internet service is vital for the program to work on a widespread basis as psychiatrists need a crystal clear signal to see the patient’s behavior and mannerisms.

“That can only be done through broadband,” Wahl said.