The Need
Amongst the many areas where healthcare provider shortages exist, one of the most critical is in mental healthcare and psychiatry – and the situation is only expected to get worse. “There are more than 4,600 mental health professional shortage areas making it difficult, if not impossible for patients to access services,” according to James R. Varrell, MD, Medical Director of InSight Telepsychiatry. The burden often falls on primary care physicians, whose training and time availability to deal with behavioral issues is limited and for whom referral options are scant because of the shortage of specialists. More, patients without access or adequate treatment, go on to act out or experience crises that further jeopardize their well-being as well as those around them. This impacts home, school and work environments – increasing personal costs and cost to the healthcare system. Enter telemedicine as a solution to alleviate this urgent void.
The Value
Telepsychiatry (also referenced as telemental services) provided through telemed channels offers many advantages. Dr. Varrell contends that availability of providers through telemed channels increases accessibility, decreases response time, facilitates delivery of quality and continuity of care and is cost effective in delivery and follow up, regardless of patient location. And there is other substantial recognition for the potential of telepsychiatry, too. Healthcare law firm Epstein Becker Green conducted extensive research from which it reported that telepsychiatry technologies are driving “a boom” in telemental health. Their research report attributes the surge to a number of factors, including:
- Alleviation of stigma by facilitating patient access in their own space rather than “public” office visits
- Ease of conducting therapy as usual, because there is little or no alteration in how providers normally interact with patients
- Payers are accepting telepsychiatry services more and faster than other lines
- Patients find telepsychiatry credible and effective
- The shortage of mental health providers is prompting search for alternative care models
- Plus, it’s worth noting that many providers have limited plan coverage options when it comes to traditional mental health and psychiatry.
The Challenge
As an alternative to traditional care, despite a plethora of delivery technology and growing numbers of service providers, telepsychiatry services still have overall marginal awareness and adoption. The first hurdle toward greater trial of this type of therapy, is to get past the stigma associated with mental issues and treatment. Another, many potential patients probably do not even know that telepsychiatry is available, much less know that they are eligible for coverage or how to find a provider.
The Approach
For greatest success in getting people to try them, healthcare plans that cover telepsychiatry should take a segmented approach to target and tailor their communications. To start, here are a few guidelines, first on how to identify which member groups would benefit and then how to reach out to them to encourage trial:
Step 1: Define your most viable member base
Take a look at member geography, demographics and professional profiles to determine if you have particular groups that would benefit from telepsychiatry and related services.
- Geography: From a geographic perspective, rural populations can be a keen base for delivery of telepsychiatry services. Telemed Magazine cites a study in Health Affairs that documents a 45.1% increase in telehealth visits among rural patients with mental illness between 2004 – 2014. And with today’s focus on outcomes, utilization in rural areas has been recognized to decrease cost of inpatient admissions.
- Demographic: Demographically, children and adolescents, for instance, are at great risk and very underserved. Despite mental illness and disorders affecting 1 in 5 children aged 6 to 17 during a given year, 79% do not receive mental healthcare, reports the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health. Further, the group reports that 80% of reported cases with multiple mental health and substance abuse disorders have onset before age 20.
- Professional: Professionally, U.S. companies rank number one for stress, impacting productivity, morale and profitability. Healthcare expert Jane Sarasohn-Kahn notes that despite 84% of U.S. employers supporting mental well-being at work, U.S. companies have seen a 5-year increase of stress at work and minimal returns from a range of remedial programs from exercise and on-site fitness facilities to yoga and stress reduction. She writes that mental health must be integrated into primary care and the overall health benefit. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, the legal field is an area where substance abuse, depression and suicide rates are higher than the general population, and law firms are starting to provide on-site psychologists and other wellness initiatives. Healthcare spending in the legal services industry are nearly double compared to national employers. Other professional areas showing high risk include farming, architecture, engineering and construction.
Step 2: Get the messaging right
The right messaging is essential to helping patients feel comfortable and secure enough to move forward with a treatment plan. In crafting that message, healthcare marketers should consider the following approaches:
- Let plan members know that if they are experiencing mental and/or stress issues, they are not alone (there are a wealth of statistics available across geographies and cohorts) – and be sure that the stats and tone of your outreach is relevant to the group you’re targeting (For example, are you targeting children, professional employees or influencers to the groups you are targeting – such as parents or other referring professionals?)
- Reinforce that there is no shame in reaching out for help, in fact, it’s the healthy thing to do.
- Communicate that the plan, member group administrators (such as human resources) and providers maintain privacy, and that is protected by law.
- Point out the benefits that delivery of telepsychiatry services may be much more flexible to schedule and faster to access compared to in-office visits. Many “traditional” providers have long waiting lists and limited, inconvenient appointment times even when they do have openings.
- Explain how to find services covered by your plan, as well as provide tips on finding the kind of service provider that is most suitable by nature of specialty, technologies used, and etc.
Step 3: Customize a communications plan
Identify the channels through which to present telepsychiatry services for consideration. Depending upon which members you are trying to reach, this may include publications, web content, direct marketing, newsletter content and email, social content, content promotion, influencer marketing, targeted display and paid search. Obviously, privacy considerations prohibit outreach to specific individuals – therefore, any direct communications would need to be done within the context of building awareness across the general member base. So, these communications may announce availability of telepsychiatry and provide a self-evaluation checklist for members to use to determine if they or a family member may benefit. Be sure to include outreach and materials to key influencers – who act as trusted advisors – such as HR departments, schools and participating primary physician providers.
Aside from the channels above, consider taking a more active educational role in building awareness for these critical telepsychiatry services through participation or support of events and activities, such as Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week, HR conferences and community-based health and wellness fairs. It may also be beneficial to provide demonstrations, via video and/or on-site, as to how telepsychiatry services may be delivered through providers covered by your plan.
The key is to demystify, destigmatize and deliver a clear understanding of who telepsychiatry services can help, why, how and where to access them.