Telepsychiatry as an Economically Better Model for Reaching the Unreached: A Retrospective Report from South India
نویسندگان
چکیده
AIM In a resource-poor country such as India, telepsychiatry could be an economical method to expand health-care services. This study was planned to compare the costing and feasibility of three different service delivery models. The end user was a state-funded long-stay Rehabilitation Center (RC) for the homeless. METHODOLOGY Model A comprised patients going to a tertiary care center for clinical care, Model B was community outreach service, and Model C comprised telepsychiatry services. The costing included expenses incurred by the health system to complete a single consultation for a patient on an outpatient basis. It specifically excluded the cost borne by the care-receiver. No patients were interviewed for the study. RESULTS The RC had 736 inmates, of which 341 had mental illness of very long duration. On comparing the costing, Model A costed 6047.5 INR (100$), Model B costed 577.1 INR (9.1$), and Model C costed 137.2 INR (2.2$). Model C was found fifty times more economical when compared to Model A and four times more economical when compared to Model B. CONCLUSION Telepsychiatry services connecting tertiary center and a primary health-care center have potential to be an economical model of service delivery compared to other traditional ones. This resource needs to be tapped in a better fashion to reach the unreached.
منابع مشابه
Microsoft Word - Reaching the Unreachable.docx
A 2005 study by the National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health indicated that at least 71 million people in India have a serious mental disorder. Despite this alarming statistic, infrastructure as well as manpower for mental health in the country is severely inadequate. Furthermore, 70% of the population lives in rural areas, far removed from the majority of mental health facilities. In l...
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