Videoconferencing could reduce the number of mental health patients transferred from outlying facilities to a regional mental health unit

To determine if the addition of a video link to the existing phone connection, enabling patients admitted for mental and behavioural disorders to be seen by a centrally located psychiatrist or mental health clinician, would change the probability of these patients being transferred to the central mental health unit.

The ability for the psychiatrist or senior mental health clinician to see mental health patients via videoconferencing was associated with a reduced probability of the patient being transferred. This satisfies the preference of patients to remain in their community and access mental health services.