Does psychiatry’s future lean towards online practice?
Telepsychiatry is a form of telemedicine that uses telephone or video conferencing tools to provide psychiatric services. As with in-person psychiatric treatment, telepsychiatry providers can evaluate and diagnose, provide therapy, and prescribe medication.
On the one hand, I fully agree with Dr Varas that something is lost when we are not meeting in the same room with our patients.
As I stated in my article, however, I think that telepsychiatry will increasingly be the way of the future, especially with younger generations of patients and therapists, along with continued advances in technology.
Dr. Reddy believes that telepsych allows patients that are in remote areas of the country of state the access to quality doctors. People feel more comfortable taking about sensitive issues in their own environment. It eliminates the white coat syndrome. The no show rate is dramatically improved as it is much more flexible than commuting at least 30 minutes to 1 hour for an appointment, then seeing the doctor then being stuck in traffic. In this fast paced word, we don't have much time. The advantage of telepsych is we don't have to do a physical examination on patients, which is unlike many other fields who are transitioning into telehealth.
The Way to Improve Mental Health in Missouri and Kansas City
I see patients from 7 hours away which would have been impossible with the benefits of telepsychiatry. I can see patients all over Missouri and Kansas City which is a major advantage as they are often burned out by their local providers and want a clean state. Now a days it's common to psychiatrists to practice in multiple states to reach more patients. I hope to expand with more Midwest states in the near especially with the patient population i see which is highly vulnerable.
Dr Vilash Reddy is the owner of One Life Psychiatry. As a child/adult/addiction psychiatrist, he has a holistic approach mental health, through the use of medication, therapy, and alternative remedies. His main focus he believes is vitally important is to educate and empower patients that are struggling with mental illness. He places a strong emphasis on understanding the patient way before prescribing random medicines which why he often the 2nd, 3rd, etc opinion.