Telepsychiatry within the Military:
- Support to Active Duty Troops
- Support to Military Families
- Outpatient Sessions
- Crisis Intervention
Benefits
-
Confidential treatment sensitive to military personnel
- Limits travel time and expense given that military bases are usually in remote areas
- Access to specialitiy care such as PTSD, Familiy Therapy, Medication Management
InSight Supports Our Troops: Telepsychiatry services are provided to active
duty soldiers and their families for both scheduled and emergent psychiatric care.
In these trying times, it has never been more important to provide our military
and their families with access to behavioral healthcare, and InSight has developed
a mechanism to do just that.
One platform in which Telepsychiatry has gained enormous support and acceptance
has been in providing telepsychiatric services to our active duty soldiers and their
dependents on military bases. Two years ago InSight received a call from a remote
military base in New Jersey. The base had been operating with only one psychiatrist
on site; however this psychiatrist was scheduled for deployment within the coming
months and a replacement had not been provided. Already inundated with requests
it could not meet in regards to psychiatric services, the base could not afford
to lose this service. Upon hearing about the predicament, InSight was able to work
with the military base in conjunction with Tricare insurance to implement a telepsychiatry
program that would be readily available for soldiers and their families before,
during, and post deployment. This telepsychiatry program expanded the availability
of behavioral health assets to a military treatment facility that had limited resources
and was able to provide the same high quality care as would be available at any
robust mental health outpatient clinic through using the technological advances
of interactive video.
In addition to the expanded service availability, Telepsychiatry also assisted in
reducing the military’s stigma associated with behavioral health, which is a noteworthy
accomplishment since thousands of troops have gone for years without receiving treatment
for PTSD and other disorders. As many soldiers prepare to come home and assimilate
back into society after years of war and multiple deployments, InSight will strive
to do its part in continuing to support our troops and their families through this
process and ensure that resources are available through telepsychiatry and the stigma
continues to be extinguished.
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