Telepsychiatry Providers’ Perceptions of Empathy: An Explorative, Descriptive, Correlational Analysis

Abstract

There is substantial growth in the use of telepsychiatry using real time videoconferencing to see patients for initial and routine psychiatric consults. Less is known regarding the relationship between patient and provider using this method of care delivery and how provider empathy can be studied in the setting of telepsychiatry. The purpose of this doctoral project was to determine whether psychiatry providers who see patients via telepsychiatry score differently on an empathy scale that those who provide consult via face-to-face encounters. Theoretical framework for this project uses the Squire Model of Empathy which incorporates both a cognitive and affective type of clinical empathy. Using a web-based Qualtrics survey, self-reported levels of empathy of 59 psychiatric providers who use telepsychiatry at a North Carolina psychiatric-based clinic network were solicited. Other demographics specific to gender, length of time in practice, practice population, and job title were analyzed using t-tests. Future directions of the project are to incorporate patient perceptions of this relationship using telepsychiatry and how the patient perceives level of provider empathy.