N.J.-based Hackensack University Medical Center announced it will launch a telehealth pilot program to increase behavioral health patients' accessibility to their healthcare teams through a partnership with Mount Dora, Fla.-based CNOW, a provider of telehealth solutions for individuals with mental health issues and developmental disabilities.
HackensackUMC, the largest provider of inpatient and outpatient services in New Jersey, plans to use the pilot program in order to address a nationwide shortage of behavioral health specialists and professionals. Telehealth's interactive video component enables clinicians to work with patients in real-time, regardless of distance, in addition to shortening wait times and reducing costs and unnecessary admissions.
"We are pleased to partner with CNOW to offer faster, more convenient care to our patients," Diego Coira, MD, chairman of HackensackUMC's department of psychiatry and behavioral medicine and medical director of its Debra Simon Center for Integrative Medicine, said in a statement. "This telehealth pilot program can help increase communication with our behavioral health patients — increasing accessibility to their healthcare team and alleviating some of the anxiety that sometimes accompanies treatment."
Thus far, more than half a million telehealth visits have been conducted using CNOW's platform.