Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Jun 22, 2016; 6(2): 269-282
Published online Jun 22, 2016. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v6.i2.269
Review of key telepsychiatry outcomes
Sam Hubley, Sarah B Lynch, Christopher Schneck, Marshall Thomas, Jay Shore
Sam Hubley, Christopher Schneck, Marshall Thomas, Jay Shore, Helen and Arthur E Johnson Depression Center, Department of Family Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, United States
Sarah B Lynch, Department of Clinical Health Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO 80217-3364, United States
Author contributions: All authors conceived the manuscript and collaborated on the design of the review.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: As this was a review of published data there were no participants to be approached for informed consent for data sharing. No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Sam Hubley, Assistant Professor, Helen and Arthur E Johnson Depression Center, Department of Family Medicine, 13199 E. Montview Blvd, Suite 330, Aurora, CO 80045, United States. samuel.hubley@ucdenver.edu
Telephone: +1-303-724882 Fax: +1-303-7244698
Received: October 28, 2015
Peer-review started: November 3, 2015
First decision: December 4, 2015
Revised: January 27, 2016
Accepted: March 14, 2016
Article in press: March 15, 2016
Published online: June 22, 2016
Processing time: 235 Days and 16.5 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Telepsychiatry represents a highly promising approach to reducing the treatment gap by making it easier for patients, especially those in isolated contexts, to access expert mental health care. There is a robust evidence base for the use of telepsychiatry as a delivery method for mental health services. Given sufficient empirical justification for telepsychiatry in routine clinical settings, future research studies should focus on clarifying best practices for implementing and sustaining telepsychiatry services.