Falconer E, Kho D, Docherty JP. (2018). Use of technology for care coordination initiatives for patients with mental health issues: A systematic literature review. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. 14: 2337-2349. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S172810
Researchers conducted a literature review for studies with data for outcomes related to the use of technology in coordinated care for mental health conditions. The review yielded 21 articles that were reviewed for target mental health condition, study setting, patient population, technology used, and benefits and barriers to technology-supported coordinated care. Included studies described coordinated care approaches for depression (n=9), substance abuse (n=4), dementia (n=2), suicide (n=1), post-traumatic stress disorder (n=2), schizophrenia (n=1), and anxiety (n=1). Most studies described coordinated care using electronic health records (n=9; EHR), web-based communication (n=5), or telemedicine (n=4). Studies described care coordination in primary care clinics (n=8), community health clinics (n=4), the veterans integrated health care system (n=5), correctional facilities (n=1), and independent living facilities (n=1). Use of technology-supported coordinated care was related to improvement in several outcomes including access to care, provider communication, patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes for suicidality, depression, alcohol use, dementia symptoms, and anxiety. Provider-related barriers to using technology included financial limitations (e.g., cost of implementing technology, inadequate reimbursements) and lack of integration with EHR (e.g., lack of templates for coordinated care, poor interoperability between EHR and tablets). Patient barriers included limited access to technology, cultural barriers, and low engagement in completing psychiatric evaluations. Researchers conclude that technology supported collaborative care shows promise in mental health care and that future work should explore the use of novel digital technologies such as wearable sensing technologies.