How to Establish a Successful Hospital-Based Telepsychiatry Program

“How long will it take to set up? When can we launch it?”

These are the most common questions when jump-starting a telepsychiatry program. As telehealth adoption increases across hospitals and health systems, stakeholders should be cautious of unrealistic timelines and silver bullet solutions that don’t grasp the nature of behavioral health challenges within your community. 

More clinicians are choosing to work in telehealth than ever before. As the industry matures and more competitors enter the market, clinicians have more options in where they chose to work.  What makes them choose one provider organization over another?  

This year has seen remarkable changes across every element of the healthcare landscape. From the unforeseen curve ball thrown at a vulnerable U.S. healthcare system to the rapid, necessary adoption of telehealth across all care settings, 2020 is nothing like we’ve dealt with before.
With all this change comes a need to be introspective and understand how we can prepare for the days, weeks, months and years ahead. InSight + Regroup maintains partnerships with hospitals and health systems across the nation under unique circumstances to ensure access to timely psychiatric assessments.

To help give us a clearer picture of what hospitals have experienced and may continue to endure related to mental health patients, InSight + Regroup SVP & Medical Director, Dr. Mark Alter, gives his thoughts on the current hospital-based telepsychiatry landscape.

Communities across the nation face a shortage of behavioral health providers. Approximately 123 million Americans live in a mental health professional shortage area[1] and 96% of counties in the U.S. have an unmet need for psychiatric prescribers.[2]

Have you thought of telepsychiatry as part of your long term strategy?

MOUNT LAUREL, NJ - InSight + Regroup is honored to present during ATA2020. As an experienced leader in telehealth industry, InSight + Regroup will share its expertise and success implementing telepsychiatry solutions across the continuum of care. Touted as the world’s largest telehealth innovation event, the American Telemedicine Association's annual conference will be held virtually from June 22 – 26, 2020.

With the splash that telehealth has made recently, this year’s virtual version of the conference is sure to be one of the most relevant events of 2020 and essential to learning about how healthcare organizations, clinicians, and individuals are viewing a world where telehealth is now the expectation, not the exception.

MOUNT LAUREL, NJ – InSight + Regroup recently appointed Drs. Jamie Evans and Marissa Stridiron to serve as associate medical directors for On-Demand Services.    

Over the last week racial events have triggered raw emotion across the country.

At InSight + Regroup we have zero tolerance for injustice, discrimination or racism. We take a stand for removing the structural barriers that impact Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Systemic racism exists within the healthcare system and within the communities and patient populations we serve. Black individuals are more likely to experience serious mental illness and more likely to receive inadequate treatment. We must do better.

We support Black voices and outcries against inequality. We want to play an active role in improvement.

As an organization that employs mental health professionals and serves hundreds of communities across the country, we must actively work to break down the health disparities within Black communities that make access to care inequitable.

We must do our part to learn, listen and examine our personal and systemic biases that make their way into treatment and into who has access to that mental health care.

We must examine our own operations and areas our organization is falling short.

We are asking our clinicians to acknowledge the historical, sociocultural, and individual factors that influence the care they deliver.

We are imploring our team to listen empathically to one another, to examine our personal blind spots to root out ways we maintain inequality, and to check-in on one another.

We are asking everyone to take time to learn and have assembled some clinician-recommended resources.

We advocate for a positive change in our country, and we appreciate what you do as well.

Thank you,

Geoffrey Boyce
Chief Executive Officer
InSight + Regroup