Telemental Health Services: Adoption Dilemma and Research Proposal

Introduction

Technology innovation can have a transformative effect on our shared way of life. Though we typically reserve our enthusiasm for technologies that improve recreation, stimulate imagination, and provide happy distraction, it is equally true that technology — in the best of hands — can improve the quality of human life altogether. This is the case in fields such as healthcare and mental health support. Fundamental to the functionality of modern society, yet plagued by critical needs and problematic realities, these are areas in which emerging technologies approaching market readiness may be pushed into practice by virtue of their combined economic viability and social responsibility.

So it is with telehealth in general and telemental health in more specific terms. The case scenario is framed within the state of Utah, where this new technology is enabling providers to reach those who have otherwise been isolated by health issues, geographical obstacles, or financial limitations. Moreover, this technology has the capacity to reduce expenditure of resources and labor during the counseling process. These features make telemental health service integration a rational and recommended course of action for counseling facilities.

The discussion that follows provides a background, literature review, and research proposal designed to support the hypothesis that telemental health services will both improve the reach of counseling facilities and reduce waste costs. In attempting to resolve concerns cited by colleagues, this paper also explores the broader implications of this technology for the mental health services field.

Background and Technological Context

This section first presents the technological developments taking place in the area of telehealth by virtue of proliferating broadband technology. Subsequently, observations are offered on the business implications of telemedicine and the socio-cultural implications of its increased use in the mental health services context. Telemedicine may offer a partial solution to the problems of the healthcare industry by arming providers, businesses, and individual patients with the opportunity to access medical attention at a fraction of traditional costs (Sahadi, 2005). As a strategy that employs advances in telecommunication and information technology, telemedicine suggests that treatment and consultation can be provided through the internet, arming providers with relatively affordable tools needed to add a new channel for healthcare access. This is promising because the healthcare industry is unequally distributed even as labor shortages continue to spread resources thin (Media Relations, 2004).

The discussion that follows addresses emerging technologies inclining the further adoption of telemedicine strategies in mental health services — producing a growing body of evidence suggesting the practical benefits of online mental health counseling, and helping to clarify consensus on questions of legal liability relating to the provision of mental health services through digital media. With the integration of internet technologies into everyday business functions, it is a natural step to consider how advancing communication and information tools might improve the quality and accessibility of mental healthcare while cutting costs and reducing labor demands on therapy groups.

One of the core imperatives for this research concerns the clear limitations our facilities face in serving rural communities. This is especially true where counseling might concern the elderly, the physically limited, those without the economic means to travel, or those with psychological conditions that discourage them from leaving home. In such contexts, telemental health services — as Smith (2001) characterizes them — should be seen as a particularly useful strategy for improving outreach capabilities while simultaneously reducing labor demands on personnel. Smith endorses this claim, indicating that "the provision of mental health services in America's rural and frontier areas remains a critical health services challenge. Telemental health — the provision of mental health services from a distance, using telecommunications technologies — is increasingly helping to surmount that challenge" (p. 1).

This is a major preoccupation of the account that follows, which aims to demonstrate that a counseling group could be servicing the needs of a wider spectrum of individuals — including those with severely limited mobility and those isolated in remote rural regions.

Research Questions

This discussion is structured around a number of key research questions, the answers to which should produce a satisfactory assessment of the major points of concern in the organization's dilemma. The following research questions have driven the focus of the literature review and established the structure of the research proposal:

• How would the implementation of a telemental health system impact the current client base?
• For whom would the implementation of telemental health be specifically amenable, either within or beyond the existing client base?
• What are the social, cultural, and ethical dimensions of the present dilemma?

Works Cited

B2B Media. (2002). General telemedicine. Telemedicine Today.

Callister, E. G. (2007). Generations: Navigating through behavioral/mental health & substance abuse in public and private practices. Utah Division of Substance Abuse & Mental Health.

Godleski, L., Nieves, J. E., Darkins, A., & Lehmann, L. (2008). VA telemental health: Suicide assessment. Behavioral Science Law, 26(3), 271–286.

Grady, B., Myers, K., & Nelson, E. L. (2009). Evidence-based practice for telemental health. American Telemedicine Association.

Media Relations. (2004). Nursing shortage fact sheet. American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Pulier, M. (2010). Mental health/telehealth finder: For events and meetings in Utah. UMDNJ.

Sahadi, J. (2005). Healthcare costs spike again. CNN Business.

Smith, H. A., & Allison, R. A. (2001). Telemental health: Delivering mental health care at a distance: A summary report. Health Resources and Services Administration.

Tschirch, P., Walker, G., & Calvacca, T. (2006). Nursing in tele-mental health. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 44(5).

Tyson, M. (2010). Telemental health extends meaningful treatment across the miles. United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

Utah Administrative Code (UAC). (1994). Mental health professional practice act rule. Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing.