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Telepsychiatry for Primary Care Offices Common knowledge within healthcare shows that the vast majority of psychiatric drugs are actually prescribed by primary care physicians that have limited training and comfort levels with the nuances of these psychiatric drugs as compared to their counterparts in psychiatry. This phenomenon is a direct result of the national shortage of psychiatrists and the increasing prevalence of behavioral health issues of consumers. Fortunately, advances in health information technology, the advent of the medical home, and an increasing public policy emphasis on finding innovative ways to integrate specialty care around a primary care physician have the potential to bring healthcare specialties to consumers more directly. Psychiatry and behavioral health are a big part of this need to integrate care, and telepsychiatry offers new options and possibilities for increasing access to consultations and direct patient evaluation and psychiatric treatment within a primary care practice. Since 2006 InSight has been delivering psychiatric services into the offices of pediatricians and primary care doctors through real-time video conferencing. Through these programs InSight telepsychiatrists consult directly with the primary care medical team and conduct interactive patient interviews directly with consumers to diagnose, assess, and treat the behavioral health issues of these consumers from within the walls of the primary care office. InSight’s telepsychiatry services allow primary care practices and general health centers to offer more specialized services and defer to psychiatric providers who are more generally more comfortable prescribing psychiatric medications. Typical Equipment Setup: Most primary care practices or health centers would benefit from a dedicated videoconferencing unit that is hardwired into a shared office that can be designated as a telemedicine office as needed. These systems are often more affordable than the mobile systems used by hospitals and will typically include a camera mounted atop a mid-sized monitor that may be remotely controlled by the telepsychiatrist. While a staff member will need to activate the equipment and facilitate an introduction between the consumer and the remote clinician, it is normally not necessary for that staff member to remain in the room during a routine encounter. |
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