With the spread of new coronavirus infections that began in 2020, telemedicine has attracted attention as a preventive measure against infection, and its use has been promoted by deregulation in many countries around the world.
 In Japan, various deregulations have led to the increased use of telemedicine in the psychiatric field, where its use has been limited in the past.
 The Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology Telepsychiatry Study Group conducted a hearing survey to understand the current status of telepsychiatry and analyze its challenges.
 17 medical institutions cooperated in the survey. Of the medical institutions that responded to the survey.
 Of the institutions that responded, 6 (35.3%) had newly introduced telemedicine since 2020, and 15 (88.2%) were practicing under the deregulation. Therefore, it is suggested that the use of telepsychiatry is expanding due to the recent deregulation.
 As for the difficulties in introducing telepsychiatry, seven institutions (41.2%) cited the low price of reimbursement and the narrow scope of coverage.
 When asked about the challenges in promoting telepsychiatry, 9 medical institutions (52.9%) responded that the price of reimbursement should be brought closer to that of face-to-face treatment. These results suggest that many medical institutions believe that the low price of medical fees is an obstacle to the spread of telepsychiatry.
 When asked about their requests to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), most of the respondents, 12 (70.6%), asked for improvements in the price of medical fees and facility standards.
 It is desirable that telemedicine should be disseminated in accordance with the needs of patients, and that regulations that are an obstacle to its dissemination and lack rationality should be reviewed.
 On the other hand, the easy overuse of telemedicine may be problematic from the perspective of the quality of medical care, and discussions on the appropriate form of regulation should be continued.
 Authors' abstract