Feasibility of model adaptations and implementation of a perinatal psychiatric teleconsultation program

Given the critical shortage of perinatal psychiatrists, combined with the prevalence of psychiatric conditions in the perinatal period, teleconsultation may help to maximize the efficiency of psychiatrists to reach this population. The Periscope Project (TPP) is a Wisconsin-based program offering real-time provider-to-provider teleconsultation, community resource information, and provider education. This paper describes model adaptations and implementation of TPP and the first 18 months of program data.

Enrollment and satisfaction data was collected via self-reported online surveys. Encounter data was entered by TPP team members through communication with providers. All data was housed in REDCap.

Four hundred eight-five providers enrolled and 268 unique providers accessed services at least once. There were 594 encounters with 85% of encounters resulting in a teleconsultation. Mean call-back time from the psychiatrist was 6.8 min. Over half of utilizing providers practiced in obstetrical settings and 23% practiced in mental health settings. Provider satisfaction with the service was 100%.

Utilization and satisfaction with TPP suggest that perinatal psychiatry access program models can vary in structure and process and experience similar utilization rates. Model adaptations are feasible and demonstrate the teleconsultation service is accepted by providers and may improve the population's health over time.