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Tele-Psychiatry Emerges as Innovative Solution for Hospitals in S.C.

Sitting in her office, in Aiken, S.C., Dr. Ratliff conducts a telepsychiatry consultation to a patient sitting in a private room located at one of the emergency departments in S.C.
Marina Ziehe
Sitting in her office, in Aiken, S.C., Dr. Ratliff conducts a telepsychiatry consultation to a patient sitting in a private room located at one of the emergency departments in S.C.

In South Carolina, rural communities are struggling with access to mental health care. In many places, there is a shortage of psychiatrists to attend people in need of services. To serve those with mental illness in distant, rural communities, the South Carolina Department of Mental Health adopted an innovative solution: tele-psychiatry.