Telemedicine Outreach for Post Traumatic Stress in CBOCs

Detailed Summary

The purpose of this study is improved outcomes for veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treated in small VA Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs). Although psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy treatments for PTSD have been proven to be efficacious in controlled trials, geographic barriers often prevent veterans from accessing these evidence-based treatments. Telemedicine technologies will be used to overcome geographic barriers to care. Specifically, we will evaluate the Telemedicine Outreach for PTSD (TOP) intervention which is based on the principals of the Chronic Care Model and Disease Management, and builds on the evidence base of quality improvement for depression in primary care settings. The TOP intervention will employ an off-site PTSD care team (tele-psychiatrist, tele-psychologist, tele-pharmacist, and tele-nurse care manager) and will use telemedicine technologies (telephone, interactive video and electronically shared medical records) to treat CBOC patients with a newly emerging or chronic PTSD. We hypothesize that study participants randomized to the TOP intervention will receive higher quality of care and experience better outcomes compared to study participants randomized to treatment as usual.

Study Details

Timeline

Interventions