Urgent Matters

Patients presenting in the emergency department with mental health issues can wait extremely long times for a psychiatric consult due to a lack of psychiatrists and overwhelming demand at some hospitals. Hospitals throughout North Carolina have teamed up with East Carolina University, to implement a telepsychiatry program whereby patients are seen remotely in the emergency department by available psychiatrists throughout the community.    The Director of the North Carolina Statewide Telepsychiatry Program (NC-STEP) is Dr. Sy Saeed, who also serves as a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine in the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Interviewing him is Dr. Jesse Pines, a Professor of Emergency Medicine and Health Policy, and Director of the Office for Clinical Practice Innovation at The George Washington University.    Urgent Matters is a platform for disseminating new ideas and strategies for the delivery of emergency medical care. In addition to our