Consider the new healthcare business or service line that you described with the Telepsychiatry program. Use any or all concepts to assist with developing the financial analysis of your new business o

New Service Line: Telepsychiatry Program

The new services line is about establishment of telepsychiatry program to meet patient needs for convenient, affordable and accessible mental health services. There is increased demand for mental health services in the United States with current survey’s indicating that half of young adults and one third of all adults reported to experience anxious and only one third of responded could get the mental health services (Brunt, & Gale-Grant, 2023). The shortage of mental health provider’s is also prohibitive with 60 percent of psychologist reporting no openings for new patients. Telepsychiatry program establishment in the main facility will help offer services virtually, as well as allow virtual consulting and therapy treatment especially for patients in rural areas since they experience a severe shortage of healthcare provider’s (Brunt, & Gale-Grant, 2023).

Telepsychiatry is equivalent to in-person care in diagnostic accuracy, treatment effectiveness, quality of care, and patient satisfaction. The economic factor that will impact this service line include inflation rates, since inflation rates will result in people losing purchasing power; especially those with low- and fixed-income reducing demand for the psychiatric services. Change in interest rates will likely impact the capital projects considering that the firm might need to utilize loans to fund the projects. Unemployment is another concern considering that some patients that require psychiatric services are not functionally active and so the firm will depend more on Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rather than out of pocket (Katayama et al., 2023). The market forces impacting the business include changes in consumer behavior and interest.

Today, there is growing acknowledgement of mental health as an aspect of overall health and this growing acknowledgement is being witnessed across all age generations. This suggest a growing trend and possible demand increase for psychiatric services. Technological use behavior between millennial, generation Z, and X differs since generation Z and millennials are technically aware and are more likely to enjoy seeking psychiatric services through Telepsychiatry, as a result there is possible telepsychiatry utilization. Demographics in rural areas suffer from worse mental health outcome than their counterparts due to substandard access, and due to shortages of resources and distance of care. This demographic will impact the new service line service demand resulting to increase consultation and scheduling for mental care service. However, low income and low technological literacy may still impact this business in short-term.

The reimbursement rate will be influenced by several factors which include current procedural terminology (CPT), diagnosis codes, negotiated rates, and out of network services and these factors will determine the reimbursement that would be received by the healthcare facility. Local regulatory factors may greatly impact the healthcare facility for example, licensing regulation requiring licensed practitioners to be licensed in the states in which their originating site patient reside (Raveesh, & Munoli, 2020). The user of telepsychiatry must undertake online courses as a requirement that increased compliance cost on the company. Telepsychiatry consultation requires treating psychiatric’s to observe law, standard protocol and standard procedures, and existing polices which one observes during in-person interaction to ensure quality of care delivery (Fields 2020).

References

Brunt, T. J., & Gale-Grant, O. (2023). Telepsychiatry: what clinicians need to know about digital mental healthcare. BJPsych Advances, 29(4), 230-238.

Fields B. G. (2020). Regulatory, Legal, and Ethical Considerations of Telemedicine. Sleep medicine clinics, 15(3), 409–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsmc.2020.06.004

Katayama, E. S., Woldesenbet, S., Munir, M. M., Bryan, C. J., Carpenter, K. M., & Pawlik, T. M. (2023). Geospatial analysis of psychiatry workforce distribution and patient travel time reveals disparities in access to mental healthcare. Psychiatry Research Communications, 3(3), 100136.

Raveesh, B. N., & Munoli, R. N. (2020). Ethical and Legal Aspects of Telepsychiatry. Indian journal of psychological medicine, 42(5 Suppl), 63S–69S. https://doi.org/10.1177/0253717620962033