Telepsychiatry in the Romanian Health System During COVID-19 Pandemic

With the covid-19 pandemic and the related restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus, the interaction between doctor and patient has changed, especially in the outpatients department. Thus, the need for remote consultations also appeared in the Romanian health system, especially in the psychiatric one. Although in other countries psychiatrists were familiar with this form of consultation, for Romanian psychiatrists, who were not trained either in residency or during medical school, it was a great challenge. If until March 2020 the patient’s consultation had to be performed only in the physical presence of a doctor, once the COVID-19 pandemic appeared, the Romanian government and the president, through the legislative acts issued, provided a legal framework for conducting this remote consultations. With the advent of telepsychiatry, discussions arose in the psychiatric community about the advantages and disadvantages of this type of consultation.