Is telepsychiatry equivalent to face-to-face psychiatry? Results from a randomized controlled equivalence trial.

Objective: The use of interactive videoconferencing to provide psychiatric services to geographically remote regions, often referred to as telepsychiatry, has gained wide acceptance. However, it is not known whether clinical outcomes of telepsychiatry are as good as those achieved through face-to-face contact. This study compared a variety of clinical outcomes after psychiatric consultation and, where needed, brief follow-up for outpatients referred to a psychiatric clinic in Canada who were randomly assigned to be examined face to face or by telepsychiatry.