Last year telemedicine for mental health and psychiatry care in the North East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) supported approximately 31,000 patient visits. This was a record number of people in the North being provided with care, reducing travel and wait times.
Telemedicine use for mental health and psychiatry continues to increase as the NE LHIN’s works to increase access to care for Northerners. From all of the telemedicine activity in the NE LHIN region last year, clinical mental health and psychiatric telemedicine was at 61 per cent, which is more than four times the next highest uses (internal medicine and oncology), and up from 56 per cent the previous year.
Telemedicine is an eHealth solution that uses two-way videoconferencing through the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) to provide care for patients. The North East is the highest user of the technology among Ontario’s 14 LHINs.
For more information go to www.nelhin.on.ca.