Clinical outcomes in telepsychiatry.

A retrospective review of patient records comparing clinical outcomes of patients seen by interactive television (IATV) and those seen in person was carried out to determine whether IATV reduced the quality of psychiatric care. A Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score was determined for each patient in both the study and control groups at the initial visit, and at subsequent visits. Forty-nine patients with either major depression or schizoaffective disorder were studied. No significant difference was found in the percentage change in GAF scores between the two groups, which suggests that clinical outcomes were not affected by the use of IATV. Patients seen by IATV had a greater attendance rate and follow-up visits took less than half the time compared with in-person visits, indicating that IATV was an acceptable and efficient method of providing psychiatric services.