The 2018 Journal of Rural Health Article of the Year highlights the important and increasing role telemental health services play in addressing widespread barriers to mental health care in rural areas. The winning paper this year was authored by a number of department faculty and staff including John Fortney, PhD; Richard Veith, MD; Amy Bauer, MD, MS; Lori Ferro, MHA; Andrew Carlo, MD and Jürgen Unützer MD, MPH, MA as well as multiple co-authors at different organizations. Drawing on their collective experience launching telemental health (TMH) partnerships, the study’s authors make recommendations to state medical schools and federally qualified health centers about how to overcome existing barriers to TMH partnerships. They also suggest policy changes that would mitigate the impact of these barriers.

“Developing Telemental Health Partnerships Between State Medical Schools and Federally Qualified Health Centers: Navigating the Regulatory Landscape and Policy Recommendations,” was published online October 4, 2018. According to the journal’s Editorial Board, the paper really stood out with clear relevance to the National Rural Health Association’s membership and almost 4,000 downloads last year, well over twice as many downloads as the next contender. The paper and authors will be recognized at NRHA’s Annual Rural Health Conference May 9 in Atlanta. More