In today’s busy, on-demand world, more employers are offeringonline or telemedicine services to employees to give them theability to speak with a psychiatrist or nurse practitionerremotely.

Telemedicine is not only convenient foremployees who don’t have to take time off work for an appointment,but also helps employers reduce the cost of hospitalizations. Whiletwo-thirds of employers currently offer employees access totelemedicine services, that number is expected to increase to90 percent by 2018.

One popular form of telemedicine is telepsychiatry, a clinicalmodel that uses videoconferencing to provide psychiatry and mentalhealth services, such as evaluations, consultations and ongoingtreatment. It allows employees to receive mental health carethrough live, interactive communication with a licensed provider ina private setting, whether that’s at work, at home or in a healthcare facility. Telepsychiatry is particularly useful given thesevere shortage of psychiatrists, which limits access to criticalcare and results in long wait times.