Category Archives: General
Optimizing Audio, Video, and Internet for your Telepsychiatry Appointment
Internet Speed: Anyone can test the bandwidth by going to websites like speedtest.net. Upload speeds of over 3mps are generally effective if there are not a whole lot of other programs running on the computer. However, it’s probably best to shoot for higher speeds and your internet service provider can give you options. If… Read More »
The Top 10 Barriers to Wider Adoption of Telepsychiatry
Although telepsychiatry has received a lot of attention in the last few years, this modality has been around for more than 60 years. As early as 1959, the Nebraska Psychiatric Institute was using early videoconferencing to provide group therapy, long-term therapy, consultation-liaison psychiatry, and medical student training at the Nebraska state hospital in Norfolk… Read More »
Are Psychotic Patients Appropriate For Telepsychiatry?
There is no absolute contraindication for telepsychiatry and virtually any mental health condition can be treated via telepsychiatry. Generally, the concerns about psychotic patients becoming more paranoid or distrustful with telepsychiatry are overblown. However, in rare cases, a patient may not be appropriate for telepsychiatry if they are truly fearful about a delusion that… Read More »
Is Telepsychiatry Appropriate For Inpatient Settings?
Telepsychiatry has been utilized in a variety of inpatient units with success and is an acceptable mode of delivering care in these settings. Both government and corporate health care organizations have embraced telepsychiatry for this purpose. In the early days of telepsychiatry, some administrators and providers were hesitant or skeptical about using telepsychiatry for… Read More »
Overcoming Barriers to Telepsychiatry
Telepsychiatry, along with other forms of telemedicine, is a rapidly expanding field offering patients around the country unprecedented access to mental health professionals and specialists. There are certain barriers to telepsychiatry that leading providers such as Orbit Health are working to overcome to facilitate a more ubiquitous use of this convenient, effective, and economical… Read More »
Signs of a Good Telepsychiatry Expert Witness
Many legal matters depend on the validity and power of their expert’s report and testimony. If you need a psychiatric expert witness, Orbit Health can connect you with a qualified telepsychiatry professional from anywhere around the country. Below, we offer some advice for vetting your possible telepsychiatry expert. Proper education and training Any… Read More »
A Brief History of Telepsychiatry
It may surprise people, even healthcare practitioners, to learn that telepsychiatry has been around in one form or another for over 60 years. It has been gaining prominence since the 1990s and, over the last two decades, has fully earned the acceptance of the medical community. Read on for a brief history of telepsychiatry… Read More »
How To Implement Psychiatry Services For Your Corrections Facility
Do you administer health care for a jail, prison, or other penitentiary? Do you have difficulty staffing your corrections facility, and meeting your staffing needs? Or, perhaps you want to improve your inmates’ mental health through quality psychiatry and opioid treatment programs? Many inmates suffer from mental disorders, but unfortunately lots of community mental… Read More »
What is the Standard of Care for Telepsychiatry?
Telehealth is increasingly being adopted by providers, patients, hospitals, and clinics as a great way of providing access to much needed healthcare. Policymakers and lawmakers have generally fallen behind the current practice and therefore there can be some uncertainty around what standard of care should apply. Moreover, “Standard of care” can be subject to… Read More »
How To Implement Telepsychiatry Services For Your Emergency Department
You’re a healthcare administrator who’s in charge of an emergency department. You’re tasked to improve the patient experience and reduce costs at the same time. And you’ve noticed that several psychiatric patients have been waiting to be admitted or transferred for days. More and more patients with psychiatric emergencies are waiting in emergency departments… Read More »