Context: which external factors influence the delivery and functioning of mental health specialist video consultations?
Familiarity with primary care practice emerged as the main facilitator of treatment engagement. Patients perceived coming to a practice as a more familiar, less stigmatizing, and hence less cumbersome way of contacting the mental health specialist compared to seeing them in an office. Familiarity with primary care practice enabled patients to open up more easily to the mental health specialist. Notably, patients from rural and suburban areas particularly linked the familiarity of the primary practice to beneficial consultations. Moreover, patients with no prior experience in turning to specialized mental health services were more likely to relate the familiarity of the primary care practice to their improvement than those who had previously consulted a mental health specialist. Finally, half of all patients, particularly those from rural areas, indicated that mental health specialist video consultations in primary care practice saved travel time to specialists, who are often located in suburban and urban areas.