An increasing shortage of psychiatrists coupled with the rural nature of many Wisconsin communities has left some seeking mental health support at a loss — but the solution could be just a Skype call away.

Telemedicine, which allows a patient to connect with and receive care from a physician through phone or video calls, is the new trend in the nation to combat such shortages.

Wisconsin is one of many states in the U.S. with mental health treatment problems. One in five American adults experience mental illness in their lives, but nearly 60 percent of them didn’t receive treatment last year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Art Walaszek, psychiatry residency training director at the University of Wisconsin Department of Psychiatry, said one reason for the shortage is that the federal government’s support for training new physicians hasn’t increased since the 1980s.

Think about it: Psychiatrist shortage affects mental health care in Wisconsin

Walaszek said psychiatrists tend to be among the oldest physicians in the country and many are approaching retirement — a trend likely to continue.

It’s especially hard to meet the needs of mental illness patients in rural areas, Walaszek said, like the northern parts of Wisconsin.

The use of telemedicine will have big impacts on the situation, Michael Peterson, psychiatry assistant professor in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, said.

Peterson said while telemedicine might be less preferable than meeting face-to-face, technology has improved the practice over the last few years, thus making it more reliable and less cost-prohibitive than it was in the past.

“[Through telemedicine], you can have access to a psychiatrist in rural areas without having to try to recruit physicians to live in those areas or to work in those areas all the time,” Peterson said.

In fact, according to a 2013 review published in Telemedicine Journal and E-Health, telemedicine is effective for diagnosis across many populations and appears to be comparative to in-person care.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs appears to be ahead of most other systems in the state in their use of telemedicine, Peterson said.

Since 2002, the VA has seen a 20-fold increase in telemental health encounters annually, according to a department report. This is the first telemental health program in the U.S., and no other nationwide program of a similar magnitude exists anywhere in the world, according to the report.

But telepsychiatry isn’t the only solution for those seeking mental care in Wisconsin’s rural areas.

The UW Psychiatry Residency received a grant in 2013 to develop a rural training program that sent psychiatrists in training out to practice in a rural setting, Walaszek said.

Medical grant gives new lease on life to Wisconsin’s doctor shortage

Gov. Scott Walker has also signed into law some incentives for psychiatrists to stay in Wisconsin, such as a bill that removes “statutory obstacles to providing integrated and coordinated care to individuals with mental illness,” and another bill that can help Wisconsin “better understand the availability and accessibility of county provided mental health services,” according to a Wisconsin Hospital Association newsletter.

“If someone has trained here, and then they stay here, there’s actually a grant that the psychiatrist can earn as a result of that,” Walaszek said. “There are some programs in place to try to better train people to work in rural areas, as well as incentivize them to move to and stay in rural areas.”

Another way to increase Wisconsin residents’ access to mental healthcare is to make it easier for primary care doctors to identify and manage mental illness.

The good thing is, Walaszek said, the majority of mental health care in the U.S. is already provided in primary care doctor’s offices instead of specialty care.

“If we can boost our support and education of primary care doctors, that might actually be the most effective long-term strategy,” Walaszek said.