Telepsychiatry is not a new concept within the world of law enforcement and corrections, but a surprising number of experienced administrators and officers are unfamiliar with this technology and the numerous benefits it offers in reducing unnecessary costs and decreasing risk exposure related to delivering behavioral healthcare.
The fact is that telepsychiatry is simply live videoconferencing just like the video court systems used throughout the country. The idea is the same; the reasons are the same; the technology can be the same; the only real difference is that instead of a judge on the end of the video transmission – telepsychiatry offers a psychiatric clinician to evaluate a prisoner’s mental status remotely through an interactive video evaluation.
InSight’s correctional experience
InSight, along with its sister company CFG Health Systems, LLC has been delivering telepsychiatry within correctional facilities since 2003. Having a deep rooted history of providing both onsite and remote services to correctional facilities across a spectrum of medical disciplines, CFG and InSight employ a large number of corrections specific clinicians that are intimately familiar with the nuances of delivering psychiatric services to this unique population.
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| "Before working with InSight, we would consistently have to transport inmates to the local hospital ER, where the inmates could wait up to two days to receive treatment. Such a wait not only denied the inmate timely service, but it also strained personnel and budgetary resources since the local municipalities are required to use two police officers to transport the inmate. The use of InSight’s telepsychiatry services significantly improved quality and timely care and resulted in significant cost savings in labor.”
Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center |
