Telepsychiatry: Understanding the Opportunity & Evolution of Telehealth in Behavioral Sciences

Industries Profiled:
Health Care


Companies Profiled:
Telepsychiatry Leaders

Study Snapshot

Best Practices, LLC conducted 12 deep-diving interviews with telepsychiatry platform providers, practicing tele-psychiatrists, and digital health executives now working as advisors in the telepsychiatry channel.

Key topics covered in this report include:

• Evolution of Telepsychiatry Channel
• Impact of Telepsychiatry on the Practice of Behavioral Health
• Experience of Psychiatrists within the Telepsychiatry Channel
• Patient Experience within the Telepsychiatry Channel
• Payer Reactions to Telepsychiatry
• Biopharma Collaborations in Telepsychiatry
• Emerging Opportunities

• Market Influences Shaping Telepsychiatry Models: According to Best Practices, LLC’s field interviews and analysis, the four strong market influences that seem to have shaped the successful telepsychiatry models are Geography, Payer Types, CNS Specialty, and Clinic Type.

• Biopharma Collaboration Interest: While all the participating telepsychiatry platform leaders seem open to collaborating with a biopharma company, only 60% of the participating psychiatrists practicing in the telepsychiatry channel seem open for the same.

• Telepsychiatry description
• Telepsychiatry demographics
• Evolution of telepsychiatry channel
• Gartner hype curve for technology applied to Best Practices’ observations regarding telepsychiatry
• Telepsychiatry models landscape
• Telepsychiatry market influences
• Field interviews on growth of telepsychiatry channel
• Field interview on telepsychiatry model of a national telepsychiatry platform provider

• Field interviews on outreach into rural areas and communities through telepsychiatry
• Patient convenience and flexibility through telepsychiatry model
• Field interview on the development of virtual waiting rooms
• Tele-care team constitution and conditions served
• Telepsychiatry behavioral health partners
• Field interviews on serving some clinical situations and conditions through the telepsychiatry channel
• Superiority of some forms of online diagnosis and education to on paper or in office approaches
• Care management and coordination

• Interview verbatims of psychiatrists on the reasons for embracing telepsychiatry
• Interview narratives around stakeholder satisfaction and net promoter score
• Demographic drivers that inspire psychiatrists to migrate to telepsychiatry
• Model of a younger psychiatrist’s practice using telepsych technology across clinics and patient types

• Interview narratives around patient experience

• Interview narrative around the types of payers embracing telepsychiatry
• Interview narrative around expanding Medicaid and f Medicare for mental health care
• Interview narratives around cost savings through telepsychiatry
• Interview narrative around hurdles to tracking telepsych outcomes
• Payer and telepsychiatry provider partnerships; and payer investment in telepsychiatry

• Collaboration interest with a biopharma company
• Possible new collaboration forms
• Interview narrative around collaboration experience
• Places along the patient journey where biopharma can collaborate with telepsychiatry

• Opportunities abound for the telepsychiatry channel: Policy, Regulatory, Education, Operations, Care Models, and Outcomes