European Psychiatry - Volume 33 - March 2016

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S66 24th European Congress of Psychiatry / European Psychiatry 33S (2016) S56–S71
et al., 1997; Sperry, 1997; Hermann, 2005). If outcome measures
are psychometrically sound and able to measure clinical change,
treatment progress can be made transparent for both patients and
clinicians.
In this presentation the presenter will update the audience on
a research project were the DSM-5 Field Trials, patient-reported
dimensional measures and the World Health Organization Disabil-
ity Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) (Clarke et al., 2013; Narrow
et al., 2013; Mo´scicki et al., 2013) are secured and placed in a newly
developed app.
Disclosure of interest The author has not supplied his declaration
of competing interest.
W33
Addiction component walk along
working towards a new app
M. Krausz
Institute of Mental Health at UBC, UBC-Providence Leadership Chair
for Addiction Research Professor of Psychiatry, West Vancouver,
Canada
Only a very small percentage of adolescents and young adults
with mental challenges is able to access specialized care. Access is
limited due to a lack of capacity but also internal hurdles and stigma
especially among youngmales. Theweb creates a newenvironment
for them, which is defining a new culture of communication and
interaction. The majority is using smart phones to access the inter-
net and make that their main communication device. Walkalong is
a web-based platform, which aims to provide a range of opportu-
nities and tools for youth with especially mood challenges. These
tools include screening and assessment, online resources and all
kind of orientation and interaction for informed decision making.
We are working on that to develop a framework for better online-
based mental health care including useful tools beyond crisis based
on the principles of empowerment and strength based approaches.
Disclosure of interest The author has not supplied his declaration
of competing interest.
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North Carolina Statewide
Telepsychiatry Program (NC-STeP):
Using telepsychiatry to improve
access to evidence-based care
S. Saeed
1 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Brody School of
Medicine at the East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
2 North Carolina Statewide Telepsychiatry Program (NC-STeP),
Greenville, NC, USA
3 ECU Center for Telepsychiatry and e-Behavioral Health, Greenville,
NC, USA
4 Vidant Medical Center, Greenville, North Carolina, NC, USA
Mental disorders are common nd they are associated with
high levels of distress, morbidity, disability, and mortality. We
know today that psychiatric treatments work and there is exten-
sive evidence and agreement on effective mental health practices
for persons with these disorders. Unfortunately, at a time when
treatment for psychiatric illness has never been more effective,
many people with these disorders do not have access to psychiatric
services due to the shortage, andmaldistribution of providers, espe-
cially psychiatrists. This has resulted in patients going to hospital
emergency departments to seek services resulting in long lengths
of stay and boarding of psychiatric patients in hospital emergency
departments. A growing body of literature now suggests that the
use of telepsychiatry to provide mental health care has the poten-
tial to mitigate the workforce shortage that directly affects access
to care, especially in remote and underserved areas
The North Carolina Statewide Telepsychiatry Program (NC-STeP)
was developed in response to NC Session Law 2013-360. The vision
of NC-STeP is to assure that if an individual experiencing an acute
behavioral health crisis enters an emergency department of a hos-
pital anywhere in the state of North Carolina, s/he receives timely,
evidence-based psychiatric treatment through this program. Aside
from helping address the problems associated with access to men-
tal health care, NC-STeP is helping North Carolina face a pressing
and difficult challenge in the healthcare delivery system today: the
integration of science-based treatment practices into routine clin-
ical care. East Carolina University’s Center for Telepsychiatry is the
home for this statewide program, which is connecting 80-85 hospi-
tal emergency departments across the state of North Carolina. The
plan for NC-STeP was developed in collaboration with a workgroup
of key stakeholders including representatives from Universities in
NC, hospitals/healthcare systems, NC Hospital Association, NC Psy-
chiatric Association, LME-MCOs, NC-Department of HHS, andmany
others. The NC General Assembly has appropriated $4 million over
two years to fund the program. The program is also partially funded
by the Duke Endowment.
The program has already connected 56 of the projected 85 hos-
pitals in the first 18 months since its inception and over 12,000
encounters have been successfully completed during this time. A
web portal has been designed and implemented that combines
scheduling, EMR, HIE functions, and data management systems.
This presentation will provide current program data on the length
of stay, dispositions, IVC status, and other parameters for all ED
patients who received telepsychiatry services. NC-STeP is now pos-
itionedwell to create collaborative linkages and develop innovative
models for the mental health care delivery by connecting psychi-
atric providers with EDs and Hospitals, Community-based mental
health providers, Primary Care Providers, FQHCs and Public Health
Clinics, and others. NC-STeP is positioned well to build capacity by
taking care of patients in community-based settings and by creat-
ing collaborative linkages across continuums of care. By doing so,
the programimplements evidence-basedpractice tomake recovery
possible for patients that it serves.
Disclosure of interest The author has not supplied his declaration
of competing interest.
References
[1] Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE. Prevalence, sever-
ity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the
National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Arch Gen
Psychiatry 2005;62(6):617–27.
[2] Antonacci DJ, Bloch RM, Saeed SA, Yildirim Y, Talley J. Empiri-
cal evidence on the use and effectiveness of telepsychiatry via
videoconferencing: implications for forensic and correctional
psychiatry. Beh Sci Law 2008;26:253–69.
[3] Saeed SA, Diamond J, Bloch RM. Use of telepsychiatry to improve
care for people with mental illness in rural North Carolina. N C
Med J 2011;72(3):219–22.
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21st century house call home
tele-behavioral medicine
H.A. Schwagar
Alaska Telemedicine Consultants, Inc., Willow, Alaska, USA
Objective This presentation will focus on and demonstrate the
effective, secure, cost effective delivery of Tele-BehavioralMedicine
services to patients in the privacy or their own home.
Method Today’s use of internet technology brings with it “cost
effectiveness” for Tele-behavioral medicine applications. Today,
with a relatively current laptop computer, a web-cam or iPad,
broadband connectivity (256 kB or faster), and a downloadable,