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The Use of Telemedicine and Mobile Technology to Promote Population Health and Population Management for Psychiatric Disorders

  • Psychiatry in the Digital Age (J Shore, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This article discusses recent applications in telemedicine to promote the goals of population health and population management for people suffering psychiatric disorders.

Recent Findings

The use of telemedicine to promote collaborative care, self-monitoring and chronic disease management, and population screening has demonstrated broad applicability and effectiveness. Collaborative care using videoconferencing to facilitate mental health specialty consults has demonstrated effectiveness in the treatment of depression, PTSD, and also ADHD in pediatric populations. Mobile health is currently being harnessed to monitor patient symptom trajectories with the goal of using machine learning algorithms to predict illness relapse. Patient portals serve as a bridge between patients and providers. They provide an electronically secure shared space for providers and patients to collaborate and optimize care.

Summary

To date, research has supported the effectiveness of telemedicine in promoting population health. Future endeavors should focus on developing the most effective clinical protocols for using these technologies to ensure long-term use and maximum effectiveness in reducing population burden of mental health.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Quality Enhancement Research Initiative program (QUE 15-282). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the USA government.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Comprehensive Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE) Center, Iowa City VA Health Care System (152), 601 Highway West, Iowa City, IA, 52246, USA

    Carolyn Turvey

  2. Department of Psychiatry, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Carolyn Turvey

  3. HSR&D Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA

    John Fortney

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    John Fortney

Authors
  1. Carolyn Turvey
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  2. John Fortney
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Correspondence to Carolyn Turvey.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Psychiatry in the Digital Age

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Turvey, C., Fortney, J. The Use of Telemedicine and Mobile Technology to Promote Population Health and Population Management for Psychiatric Disorders. Curr Psychiatry Rep 19, 88 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-017-0844-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-017-0844-0

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