Tricare web base mental health program shutting down

Tricare to close online mental health program
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Mar 31, 2012

 The Tricare Assistance Program for behavioral health counseling is being shut down due to lack of use, Tricare officials said Friday. The $3 million demonstration program, launched in August 2009, was designed to test use of Web-based video conferencing for mental health counseling.

The instant messaging and Web-based chat program facilitated communications with patients and counselors on non-medical concerns ranging from deployment anxiety and work stress to family and relationship issues. The program logged 5,109 calls during a two-year period, with 89 percent coming from the Tricare West region, according to Tricare spokesman Austin Camacho. Only 1,188 were initial calls, while the rest were follow-ups, he added. read more here