As the primary resource for children and adolescents on Medicaid experiencing a mental health crisis, The Center for Youth & Family Solutions (CYFS) in Bloomington, Illinois, provides critical support to some of the area’s most vulnerable families. For the nonprofit agency, however, finding a financially sustainable way to connect children with high-quality mental health care was an ongoing challenge. 

There’s nothing cookie-cutter about telemental health care. Just as each patient’s needs are unique, so are each facility’s needs for implementing an effective program. Beyond finding the right clinician, telepsychiatry success requires technology and processes best suited to your facility’s particular structure and goals. Having a partner committed to meeting the needs of your organization can make all the difference.

Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach to technology, a partner who provides customized tools, training and support can help:

• Maximize billings by avoiding technical problems that cut into patient sessions
• Improve operational efficiency and free up facility staff for other high-value tasks
• Turn psychiatrists into “tele”-psychiatrists and ensure satisfaction among staff, clinicians and patients alike

With nearly 1,400 facilities across the country, community health centers play a crucial role in bringing affordable care to more than 28 million people across urban, suburban and rural communities. As a main source of healthcare for their patients, these centers offer a broad spectrum of services, ranging from preventive medical and dental care to advanced treatment for serious physical and behavioral health conditions.

By improving access to timely, holistic care, community clinics can help to lower overall healthcare costs by reducing costly hospitalizations. Since these facilities depend on funding from Medicaid and various federal grants, however, delivering cost-effective, high-quality care is often a difficult balancing act. This challenge is especially apparent in behavioral healthcare, where recruiting and retaining on-site clinicians can be difficult and cost prohibitive. As part of our ongoing series on telepsychiatry for various healthcare sectors, here’s how telemental health is helping community clinics meet the needs of their patients in a financially sustainable way.

Access to quality mental health care is a persistent problem across America. Research shows that one out of every five U.S. adults experiences mental illness, yet less than half receive treatment. One major culprit is the uneven distribution of mental health providers, which leaves many people in rural areas as well as urban centers without access to care.

In response, healthcare organizations are embracing telemental health services to provide care to more patients while also gaining operational efficiencies. As awareness and the adoption of telemental health grow, facilities across the country are continuing to refine their programs to support long-term success. Focusing on these four key areas can help facilities deliver telepsychiatry services that meet both patient and organizational needs for years to come.

Telepsychiatry has experienced enormous growth in recent years as healthcare organizations, clinicians and regulators recognize its tremendous potential to increase access to mental health care. As demand for telepsychiatry surges, however, telepsychiatry-related legislation is also on the rise.

Federal and state laws for virtual psychiatry are constantly changing and laws can vary widely from state to state, so it’s essential for organizations to keep up with the latest regulations. Here’s a closer look at how the field is evolving and how organizations can stay ahead on compliance.

As healthcare facilities across the country work to meet the behavioral health needs of their communities, many are turning to external partners to help them deliver psychiatric care virtually. If your own facility is considering enlisting outside help to implement a telepsychiatry program, selecting the right partner is essential. The best telepsychiatry companies connect your organization with specialized clinicians, ensure a holistic care approach, and advise on best practices to continuously improve your program over time.

Whether facilities are rolling out a telepsychiatry program for the first time or evaluating a new partnership, here are five key questions to consider when choosing a telepsychiatry partner.

Though telepsychiatry isn't a new practice, telepsychiatry programs have surged in recent years among organizations seeking to improve access to mental health. And as the field grows rapidly, telepsychiatry laws are also changing to help streamline implementation while ensuring quality care. For healthcare organizations, staying on top of the latest privacy, reimbursement and other relevant regulations is an absolute necessity.

In this edition of Ask Regroup, Director of Compliance Geoffrey Dacanay discusses why compliance is a key component of Regroup’s client partnerships, how Regroup guides healthcare organizations on compliance issues, and the biggest legal and regulatory developments for 2019 and beyond.

Are you attending the Nebraska Rural Health Conference? If so, we'd like to introduce ourselves at the show. Rick Roos, the Senior Director of Partnerships at Regroup, will be attending. 

For Native Americans living in tribal communities, the closest mental health care professional can be hours away – if one is available at all. Yet years of intergenerational trauma, high rates of mental illness and substance abuse mean these residents often have a significant need for these services. As a result, a growing number of tribal communities are turning to telepsychiatry for access to high-quality, culturally-sensitive mental health care clinicians for the people that call these communities home.

In our latest Sector Spotlight, we share insights on telepsychiatry in Native American communities from Regroup’s recent appearance on “American Indian Living.” During the podcast, Naveen Kathuria, Regroup’s senior vice president, partnerships and compliance, explains how telepsychiatry is helping these communities access highly specialized clinicians equipped to serve their population’s unique needs.

Each day, opioids claim the lives of more than 130 people across the U.S. As this national epidemic continues to intensify, access to treatment has remained out of reach for many of the patients who need it most. While medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with medications like Suboxone is a proven method for treating opioid use disorder, there simply aren’t enough qualified providers to meet the need and the demand, particularly in rural and other underserved areas.

As healthcare facilities work to meet skyrocketing demand for MAT, a growing number are turning to telepsychiatry as an effective, cost-efficient solution. With recent changes in the law making it easier to deliver MAT via telepsychiatry, this technology-enabled approach is expanding access and saving lives in communities ravaged by the opioid crisis.