Trends in Telepsychiatry and In-Person Psychiatric Care for Depression in an Academic Health System, 2017–2022
Abstract
Objective:
The authors aimed to assess differences in appointment completion rates between telepsychiatry and in-person outpatient psychiatric care for patients with depression in an academic health system.
Methods:
Electronic health records of encounters for patients (ages ≥10) with a depression diagnosis and at least one scheduled outpatient psychiatric appointment (N=586,266 appointments; November 2017–October 2022) were assessed for appointment volume and completion of telepsychiatry versus in-person sessions.
Results:
Telepsychiatry became the dominant care modality after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, although the number of telepsychiatry and in-person appointments nearly converged by October 2022. Logistic regression showed that telepsychiatry appointments (July 2020–October 2022) were more likely (OR=1.30, 95% CI=1.27–1.34) to be completed than in-person appointments.
Conclusions:
Telepsychiatry appointments were less likely to be canceled or missed than in-person appointments, suggesting that telepsychiatry improved efficiency and continuity of care. As in-person operations resume following the pandemic, maintaining telepsychiatry services may optimize hospital-level and patient outcomes.
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