Exploring the Telepsychiatry Experience: Primary Care Provider Perception of the Michigan Child Collaborative Care (MC3) Program

Nasuh Malas; Edwin Klein; Elizabeth Tengelitsch; Anne Kramer; Sheila Marcus; Joanna Quigley

doi:10.1016/j.psym.2018.06.005

Exploring the Telepsychiatry Experience: Primary Care Provider Perception of the Michigan Child Collaborative Care (MC3) Program

Psychosomatics. 2019 Mar-Apr;60(2):179-189. doi: 10.1016/j.psym.2018.06.005. Epub 2018 Jun 21.

Authors

Nasuh Malas¹, Edwin Klein², Elizabeth Tengelitsch³, Anne Kramer³, Sheila Marcus³, Joanna Quigley⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI; Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI. Electronic address: nmalas@med.umich.edu.
² University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI.
³ Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI; Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI.

PMID: 30097288
DOI: 10.1016/j.psym.2018.06.005

Abstract

Background: Pediatric mental healthcare is a growing component of primary care practice. However, there is a lack of access to mental health services, particularly those provided by Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists. The Michigan Child Collaborative Care (MC3) Program is a telepsychiatry service that offers embedded behavioral health consultants within primary care practices, telephonic consultation, video consultation and embedded care. Primary care provider (PCP) utilization of telepsychiatry services is predicated on perceiving the consultation service as user-friendly, helpful, and feasible in their practice.

Objective: A survey of PCPs was conducted over a 5-year period to assess PCP attitudes and perceptions regarding MC3 consultation, including measures of efficiency, user-friendliness, and confidence in providing mental healthcare. The survey contained 4 items, (2 quantitative and 2 qualitative), and took less than 2 minutes to complete.

Results: 649 responses were received out of 1475 possible responses (44% response rate). Common themes elicited from the qualitative items included perception of improved patient care for youth with mental illness (45.3%), improved comfort and confidence in caring for youth with mental illness (30.9%), greater comfort with the prescribing and monitoring of psychotropics (25.9%) and improved access to mental healthcare for youth (23.1%). PCPs strongly agreed that MC3 was user-friendly, efficient, and enhanced their confidence in managing pediatric mental health concerns.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the MC3 Telepsychiatry Program is well accepted by PCPs with self-reported improvements in providing mental healthcare to patients. Future research should explore how PCP perception impacts PCP practice, knowledge, as well as outcomes for patients and families longitudinally.

Keywords: Michigan; collaborative care; pediatrics; primary care; telemedicine; telepsychiatry.

MeSH terms

Adolescent Psychiatry
Attitude of Health Personnel*
Child Psychiatry
Delivery of Health Care*
Humans
Michigan
Pediatricians*
Primary Health Care
Psychiatry*
Referral and Consultation
Remote Consultation*
Telemedicine