Development of a Virtual Partial Hospital Program for an Acute Psychiatric Population: Lessons Learned and Future Directions for Telepsychotherapy

Research suggests that individuals may benefit from participation in a partial hospital program (PHP) following discharge from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. Indeed, PHPs are designed to facilitate further stabilization and skill-building before discharge to the community. As a result, our hospital-located in a large metropolitan area in the Northeastern United States-has long maintained a commitment to providing this critical level of care. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, these in-person PHP services were discontinued in response to public health recommendations and to ensure the safety and well-being of patients and staff. To maintain this important point along the psychiatric care continuum, hospital leadership encouraged our PHP team to pursue an alternative approach to treatment delivery: video-based telepsychotherapy. This article describes the development of a virtual PHP that serves acute psychiatric patients stepping down from inpatient hospitalization. First, we provide an overview of the original in-person PHP and then discuss the process of its transition to a virtual format. Next, we describe in detail the components of our newly developed virtual PHP, highlighting adaptations necessitated by patients and staff being remote from our physical hospital. Finally, we present preliminary evidence of our virtual PHP's acceptability and feasibility, based on experiences with our 23 patients to date; discuss lessons learned from this program development effort; and recommend future directions for research and clinical practice. Information provided herein aims to guide the development of other virtual PHPs and telepsychotherapy programs that similarly strive to offer intensive treatment to an acute psychiatric population. Desarrollo de un programa de hospital parcial virtual para una población psiquiátrica aguda: Lecciones aprendidas y direcciones futuras para la telepsicoterapia Estudios sugieren que las personas pueden beneficiarse de la participación en un programa de hospital parcial (PHP) luego de alta de hospitalización psiquiátrica. En efecto, PHPs están diseñados para facilitar mayor estabilización y desarrollo de habilidades antes del alta a la comunidad. Como resultado, nuestro hospital - ubicado en una gran área metropolitana en el Noreste de los Estados Unidos - ha mantenido durante mucho tiempo el compromiso de proporcionar esto nivel crítico de cuidado. Sin embargo, durante la pandemia de COVID-19, estos servicios de PHP e