Tag: Best Practices

When working with populations facing barriers related to social determinants of health, utilizing resources in the community, combined with telehealth, can help connect them to the behavioral health treatment they need.

Jump through the table of contents below and learn how to increase access to mental health services:

The role of social determinants of health in behavioral health care
Types of partnerships your organization can leverage
How remote providers can connect patients with local resources
Where Iris Telehealth fits in

The role of social determinants of health in behavioral health care

Access to quality behavioral health care is vital to a patient’s health. However, many individuals and families struggle to get the care they need due to social determinants of health (SDOH). Here are a few ways SDOH can impact mental health and quality of life:

• Finances: More than 1 in 5 patients need assistance to afford their prescription medication. Medication adherence can be a challenge for uninsured patients with costly medication or for those who have insurance that doesn’t cover prescription costs. In some cases, patients have to choose between paying for groceries, their prescriptions, or rent when faced with high prices.
• Housing Insecurity: Patients who move around a lot due to housing insecurity can face more challenges receiving consistent mental health care. For example, patients often need a home address to qualify for special assistance programs, which can affect their ability to afford treatment. Additionally, many services patients spend time applying and preparing for become obsolete without housing stability. For children, moving around a lot can be disruptive to their education.
• Food Insecurity: Food insecurity is associated with a higher risk of anxiety and depression. When patients can’t feed themselves, their physical and mental health is impacted. Malnutrition leads to a greater risk for chronic health conditions, which can also increase the risk of depression and other behavioral health care challenges.
• Education: Receiving immunizations can be a significant barrier for undocumented children, as they often require showing proof of citizenship. When children are forced out of the school system, they lose out on many resources that the education system provides. A lack of education can impact social support, health literacy, and can contribute to poor mental health outcomes.

Let’s take a closer look at the type of partnerships organizations can leverage to help make a positive impact on patients experiencing SDOH.

Community resources to leverage for social determinants of health

Partnering with stakeholders and organizations in your community to fund programs can have many benefits for your patients. While many of these partnerships are non-traditional, innovative efforts through collaboration can improve healthcare outcomes. Here are just a few examples of organizations for potential partnership opportunities:

• Government: Local governments serve as a vital resource for external funding. They can advance health equity by sharing valuable data on which populations in your community experience worse health outcomes. This information can give insight into the distribution of resources and what resources are available. Additionally, by attending meetings hosted by local government, healthcare leaders can become thought leaders and key stakeholders in the community.
• Faith-based organizations: Churches, temples, and other religious congregations can improve care delivery and quality of health care for many community members. A religious congregation provides a place to access treatment and preventive services without fear of discrimination or government interference. This advantage is especially helpful for immigrants or refugees who have established trust within their religious community. For example, sometimes child and adult immunizations can be offered at a community’s local faith-based organization without a need for IDs and other paperwork.
• Educational organizations: Universities, colleges, and schools are a great way to disseminate health and mental wellness resources to the community. Coordinating with schools could look like hosting events together, directly offering mental health services on campus, or developing joint programs to promote student access to health care. Workshops and seminars allow an excellent way to educate students on relevant mental health topics.
• Mission-based organizations: These kinds of organizations include National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) or Mental Health America (MHA) for broad mental health resources, the Trevor Project for LGBTQIA+ youth to support specific underserved populations, and more can expand your organization’s knowledge base and your network. For example, partnering with a mission-based organization that helps veterans can be an effective way to connect with veterans who need mental health care.
• Community organizations: Food banks, social services, and other community organizations can provide beneficial partnerships. Additionally, connecting with cultural community organizations allows providers to share mental health resources that meet the specific needs of that community.

It’s also essential to attend community events and encourage your on-site providers to do the same.

How remote providers can connect patients with local resources

Telehealth meets SDOH head-on by connecting patients with providers regardless of where they live. Having a provider that provides specialty care, while also helping their clients stay connected with local resources, can help improve outcomes that have the potential to be impacted negatively by social determinants of health.

For remote providers, staying connected to the community they serve can be achieved by being flexible, creative, and proactive in their approach to care. As a healthcare organization, you can encourage your providers to stay connected with their patient’s local resources.

A few ways your providers can achieve this connection is through signing up for newsletters, following local government on social media, and staying informed on the most recent information and events in the community. While telehealth can make providers physically incapable of being there, they have options to connect with their community and stay in the know virtually.

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

At Iris, we partner with communities in need of mental health resources. Through partnerships with community organizations and stakeholders, healthcare organizations can build programs and services dedicated to address the unique needs of the community they serve, including the implementation or improvement of telepsychiatry services. Partnering with Iris allows members of your community to receive the care they need when they need it. Contact us today if you would like to learn how telepsychiatry can help your community.

Every healthcare organization has to strike a balance between ease of use and security when it comes to their EMR. And, if an organization is utilizing a virtual solution, like telepsychiatry, there are several special considerations to keep in mind.

Thankfully, there are best practices your organization can implement to ensure your teams are set up for success.

Top five EMR best practices for new users

Whether you’re bringing a remote provider onto your team for the first time or you’re expanding your virtual services, here’s what you can do to help providers get comfortable with your EMR.

1. Assign a dedicated super user: Training in the EMR is essential. Assigning a dedicated super user gives a provider someone to lean on for immediate support. If a super user isn’t available, allowing the provider to shadow a peer who offers advice and shares templates can also be beneficial.
2. Provide on-going training: EMRs vary in complexity and can dictate how much training is required. However, having a training plan in place can help create a better experience for patients and providers. Additionally, ongoing refresh training and e-learning opportunities can be helpful and fit nicely into a provider’s schedule.
3. Conduct a dry run: For healthcare organizations, it’s essential to consider what processes you have built around the EMR and how much your providers know about these processes before they begin using the tool. Conducting a dry run and creating practice spaces for providers can help drive success in the EMR. At Iris Telehealth, our providers go through an entire test run and learn who they should call and what they should do in an emergent situation.
4. Prioritize the provider experience: Pajama charting is the work in the EMR that happens after clinic hours. As an organization, it’s important to keep track of the amount of pajama charting a provider conducts. If they’re having trouble completing their charting during the day, it’s an excellent opportunity to reach out to them and better understand their experience.
5. Provide templates: For telepsychiatry, making templates available is crucial. For example, having templates available for psychiatric evaluations can be greatly beneficial. While general templates can be helpful, they’ll likely need to be tweaked for behavioral health usage.

The key to best-in-class EMR support

Supporting your remote providers is essential to their experience of your EMR. When choosing a telehealth partner, one important thing to consider is whether or not they facilitate IT support for their providers.

At Iris, we’re technology-neutral and can seamlessly integrate into your technology. We also facilitate 24/7 IT support to our providers. Because we’re accustomed to the wide variety of equipment and EMRs on the market, we’re well-versed in the types of problems that might occur. Whether it’s an issue with the VPN or the password, we help reduce the frustration that comes along with technology.

Along with provider support, it’s also important to ensure patients have technical support available. For example, if a patient can’t log into their telehealth appointment, it can create another barrier. This barrier can stop them from getting the care they need. That’s why having an effective consumer workflow is crucial.

Considerations for clinicians using the EMR remotely

For clinicians getting familiar with a new EMR, it can be helpful to know what to expect. It’s useful to have insights into the laws, communication, and other patient interactions.

• Get familiar with badge laws: For healthcare workers, becoming familiar with state-by-state badge laws can be greatly beneficial. For instance, some states require clinicians to wear a badge that displays their name and credentials. These states may also require providers to show their badge to the patient and have it displayed throughout the call.
• Ensure patient consent: Another thing providers should keep in mind when interacting with patients virtually is ensuring consent. Consent laws can vary by state. Some states may require different language around consent or consent to be visible to the patient within the telehealth application.
• Communication is key: Generally, the same rules for in-person care also apply to virtual care. However, one key difference is eye contact. While in-person, the patient may intuitively understand that the provider is looking at their computer to take notes, this action may not be clear virtually. That’s why it’s vital for providers to be explicit and let the patient know they’re looking away to take notes. Training and templates can also help providers become better at charting and improve patient connection.

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

With the right processes in place, your telehealth provider should seamlessly integrate into your team, into your workflows, and successfully navigate your EMR. And for them, using the EMR should be no different than if they were physically present on-site. If you’re interested in integrating a telepsychiatry solution into your organization, Iris can help provide the support you need to get started. Contact us today to learn more!

For many new mothers, “baby blues” can be a common occurrence lasting up to two weeks after delivery. However, if a mother’s symptoms don’t go away or become more severe, it might be postpartum depression – something 1 in 7 mothers experience. Many cases of postpartum depression in women go unrecognized, but knowing how to identify this condition and connect mothers with the right resources can help increase access to care and get mothers the right help when they need it.

Feel free to jump through the topics of this blog using the table of contents below.

Table of contents
Barriers mothers may encounter when seeking mental health care
How providers can help mothers address their mental health needs
Resources and education opportunities for providers
How Iris Telehealth can help

Barriers mothers may encounter when seeking mental health care

There are many risk factors that can increase chances of postpartum depression, a few of these include: a history of depression and anxiety, lack of support, mothers who carried difficult pregnancies, and mothers of twins. However, it’s important to remember that any person can battle postpartum depression regardless of these risk factors.

Getting mothers the care they need is essential, but gaining this access isn’t always easy. Fortunately, telehealth can help.

Let’s look at a few ways telehealth can help mothers overcome some common challenges they face:

• Stigma: A study by Frontiers found that as many as 58% of mothers who experience postpartum depression will not reach out for help, with many stating they were to scared to seek help. Whether it’s due to the shame mothers with newborns sometimes feel, or societal stigma, telehealth allows mothers privacy to take their appointments. That way, they don’t have to worry about running into their provider in the community, or someone they know in the waiting room.
• Social determinants of health: Challenges related to social determinants of health (SDOHs) play a prominent role in keeping mothers from the care they need. Taking time away from their newborns may not be an option for mothers who struggle to find transportation or affordable childcare. Telehealth allows mothers to get the care they need without having to leave their homes. It also connects them to telemental health specialists and postpartum education that may not be available locally.
• Lack of screening: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines recommend that mothers receive screening 10-14 days after giving birth to identify and treat postpartum depression. Theses screenings are important because between appointments, it might be difficult for mothers to remember to bring up how they’re feeling. Whether they’re experiencing feelings of hopelessness, discomfort with sharing, or sadness, screenings can help prompt important conversations. Telehealth allows mothers to check in with their providers to address common postpartum concerns before it interferes with their daily life.

Because of the convenience and access to specialty care, telehealth can be an essential resource in providing care and breaking barriers for people experiencing postpartum depression.

How providers can help mothers address their mental health needs

Providers play an integral part in caring for mothers and their mental health. By understanding maternal mental health conditions like postpartum depression, providers can offer quality treatment to mothers going through challenging times.
Here are three ways providers can use to help mothers address postpartum depression and get proper treatment for their mental health:

1. Addressing stigma: As a provider, addressing stigma related to managing postpartum depression can help mothers feel more comfortable discussing the condition more openly. Opening up the conversation and emphasizing how prevalent postpartum can be can help mothers feel less alone in their experience. It can also help decrease the probabilty that the mother will internalize the struggle and not seek care.
2. Educating mothers about their options: Postpartum depression is treatable. By getting mothers involved in education ahead of time and letting them know what to look for during pregnancy and after delivery, it can be easier for them to reach out for help from their providers. From a mental health standpoint, having a child can impact the whole family, and providing education and resources along the way can be beneficial for everyone. For example, let mothers know about support groups, hotlines they can reach out to, and organizations like Postpartum Support International (PSI), Health Resource and Services Administration, and other local resources in their community.
3. Reach out: Remind mothers that they also need to care for themselves. Having a solid support system is necessary to get through the stress of a new baby. A support system could look like a partner, family member, or friend. As a provider, you can help your patients assess their current support system and encourage them to reach out when necessary. Reaching out to the mother’s pediatrician can also help assess how the mother and the baby are feeling.

Resources and education opportunities for providers

There are many resources for providers looking to learn more about maternal mental health care. Clinicians can further improve the care they provide by learning about specific issues that mothers, children, and families face when there is a postpartum diagnosis or risk.

Here are a few resources that can help you provide quality care to mothers:

• Postpartum International Certificate Trainings: Postpartum Support International has multiple certificate training programs for providers looking to learn skills related to assessing and treating perinatal mood disorders. There are options for small group discussions, supplemental reading, and live sessions for certificates.
• 2020 Mom Trainings: 2020 Mom, a national maternal mental health non-profit organization, has a series of training that include eight live sessions, small group discussions, supplemental reading materials, 16 continuing education credits, and a certificate of completion.
• March of Dimes’ Professional Continuing Education: March of Dimes, an organization committed to maternal and child health, has many continuing education opportunities for healthcare providers caring for birthing persons. Certain CMEs include strategies to increase screening during the perinatal period, identifying risk factors and signs for maternal health disorders, and the impact of maternal health disorders on the mother, baby, and family.
• Postpartum Support International (PSI) Webinar: This webinar talks about the range of maternal mental health disorders. In this 90-minute free webinar, PSI shares information about the prevalence, signs and symptoms, and recommended treatment options.

How Iris Telehealth can help

At Iris, we help organizations implement telehealth into their practice so they can help more people get the mental health care they need. We connect your patients with clinicians who have experience managing postpartum depression. Contact us today to learn how you can implement a telemental health program that can help the families in your community!

Quick links
How providers can address mental health in the Black community
How organizations can address mental health in the Black community
How telehealth can help address mental health in the Black community
Resources and education opportunities for providers
How Iris Telehealth can help

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), only one in three Black adults with mental illness receive treatment, compared to 40% of white adults. Additionally, there has been a recent spike in depression and anxiety among Black Americans amid protests and racial trauma. Discrimination continues to be a significant source of stress for Black Americans, with 48% reporting discrimination as a stressor.

When thinking about mental health in the Black community, it’s important to put into perspective how their experiences are impacted by culture and history. While the civil rights movement of the 1960s ended the visible racial and ethnic barriers enabling segregation, racism still exists today, often in more hidden forms like healthcare inequality.

Organizations can work to address these inequalities by helping create better access to mental health support and providing more culturally competent care. Keep reading to find new resources and strategies your organization can use to better support the mental health of Black Americans in your community.

How providers can address mental health in the Black community

Studies consistently show that Black Americans are often undertreated and misdiagnosed. According to a report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Black and Hispanic patients receive inferior care compared to white adults on 40% of quality measures. These quality measures examined effective treatment, care coordination, and affordable care.

To help improve care and prioritize this population’s well-being, here are a few best practices you can implement to provide effective support and communication:

• Proper screening and follow-ups: The Black community is 20% more likely to experience a serious mental health condition, like Major Depressive Disorder or Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Proper screening and thorough assessments allow Black patients to combat undertreatment and misdiagnosis. Implementing proper screening could improve treatment for mental health problems and reduce disparities in care.
• Be conscious and mindful: Recognizing personal biases in treatment can enhance patient care. A patient who notices a provider’s implicit bias could feel less inclined to engage with their provider. By integrating culture and family history and addressing the significance of your patient’s background into the treatment of your Black patients, you can drastically improve quality of care.
• Educate yourself: Learning about the population you’re treating should be ongoing. By taking deliberate and conscious action, you can help address inequalities, grow your own awareness, and improve as a provider overall.

How organizations can address mental health in the Black community

As a healthcare organization, creating an environment where Black Americans receive culturally competent care is vital. Here are several different ways your organization can ensure your Black patients get the care they need and deserve:

• Train a workforce that resembles the patient population: According to the American Psychiatric Association, only 2% of psychiatrists identify as Black. Some Black patients may feel they can better connect with a provider who shares their same background and can identify with their specific cultural stressors. By training a workforce that can relate to the experiences of Black American patients, you can help improve cultural competency. Regardless of similarity in ethnicity, compassion and cultural competency are crucial when treating patients from all backgrounds.
• Engage with the community: In an article by the American Medical Association, they highlighted seven ways to improve Black health in mind and body. One of these ways was for those in healthcare leadership to engage with the Black community and meet them where they are by attending community events, partnering with community leaders, and working to dispel the distrust against medical establishments. Outside of a medical environment, leadership can focus on making connections with the community, staying open, and being transparent.
• Address social determinants of health: Organizations can seek strategies to connect patients to community and government resources. Some strategies could include care planning, partnering with community organizations, or linking patients with resources to fulfill their needs. A licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) can provide this type of support specifically to individuals by connecting them with necessary resources in their community.
• Incorporate telemental health: Adopting telehealth can be a great tool for Black patients. For some people, getting the care they need can be difficult due to transportation issues, caregiving responsibilities, or the obstacle of finding a culturally competent provider. Telehealth can connect patients to the care they need by helping them work with a specialist regardless of where they’re located.

How telehealth can help address mental health in the Black community

In 2020, a study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania reported that 33% of Black patients’ appointments were completed via telemedicine. Additionally, this study showed that Black Americans used telemedicine more often than non-Black patients.

While this population faces many challenges, from stigma to lack of culturally competent care, technology can help promote better mental health care. Here are a few ways telehealth can help:

• Telehealth connects patients to culturally competent care: Telehealth can connect Black patients to providers who can better understand their experiences and provide cultural sensitivity. No matter where they are located, black patients can find someone who can provide high-quality mental health care for them.
• Telehealth offers flexibility: For some patients, the flexibility of receiving care from a remote location, like their home, can bring many benefits. Telehealth usage for Black Americans could help prevent stigma, increase flexibility for busier patients, and better manage their health. Black Americans can feel at ease knowing they have options to manage their mental health.
• Telehealth improves outcomes: Utilizing telehealth can enhance patient outcomes. It allows providers to work with caregivers and improve clinician workflows. According to Health Recovery Solutions, the best patient outcomes come from a balance of patient engagement, clinician satisfaction, and healthcare resources. Black patients can receive the best care possible when they’re engaged in follow-ups, chronic condition management, and medication management.

Resources and education opportunities for providers

There are many resources available for providers and organizations looking to learn more about offering enhanced mental health care for Black Americans.

Here are a few to help you get started:

• American Medical Association (AMA) Ethics Talk: This video on “Antiracism, Health Equity, and a Post-COVID Future” talks about the impact of racist policies in healthcare and what it means to be antiracist.
• American Psychiatric Association (APA) Stress & Trauma Toolkit: This toolkit from the American Psychiatric Association offers information for treating African Americans in a changing political and social environment.
• Race & Diversity Reading List: These books are specifically selected for psychologists and other mental health care providers. They address issues related to race, ethnicity, and identity for a better understanding of how to support your Black patients.

How Iris Telehealth can help

Whether you’re an organization looking to implement telehealth into your practice or a clinician looking to provide care to specific populations, Iris Telehealth can help. We can help you provide culturally competent care and connect your patients with their best provider match. Contact us today to learn how you can implement an effective and culturally competent telepsychiatry program.

For over 70 years, The Joint Commission (TJC) has served to uphold care quality standards to improve patient care across the healthcare industry. As the preeminent healthcare accreditation organization, TJC sets quality standards, evaluates the performance of healthcare organizations across the country, and provides the solutions and resources organizations need to improve their practices.

For behavioral health care, we know that maintaining quality, consistent care and ensuring patient safety across their experience is absolutely critical. If you’re in the process of expanding your behavioral health program or services, vetting partner organizations for TJC accreditation is a great place to start.

The benefits of working with a Joint Commission accredited partner

When you work with a healthcare organization that is TJC accredited you can be confident your patients and your communities will be receiving the best care possible and that all care will be delivered with quality and patient safety as the top priorities

Here are just a few additional benefits to working with a TJC accredited partner:

• Dedication to continuous improvement: When a healthcare organization is accredited by TJC, you can rest assured that the organization is not only dedicated to continuously meeting rigorous national standards for care, but is also looking to constantly improve their care efforts to keep up with evolving best practices.
• Ability to conduct credentialing by proxy: TJC accredited telehealth organizations meet the regulatory requirements for telemedicine credentialing and are qualified to conduct credentialing by proxy (CBP). This qualification allows health systems to leverage the benefits of telepsychiatry without incurring the full administrative burden associated with the traditional credentialing process.
• Confidence in your partner’s management practices: Because a TJC accredited healthcare organization is subject to regular audits by the Joint Commission to ensure they’re in compliance with TJC standards, your organization can be confident that any TJC accredited partner will be utilizing sound management practices that put patient safety and care quality first.

For more information about TJC standards and the accreditation process, you can visit their website here.

Iris Telehealth has been Joint Commission accredited since 2019

Iris Telehealth first received TJC accreditation in 2019 and officially had our accreditation status recertified in November 2022. That status further cements our commitment to providing exceptional care and support to our partners and patients across the country.
As a psychiatric medical group that is TJC accredited as a Behavioral Healthcare & Human Services Organization, we believe it is important to hold our patient care standards at the same level as our health system partners, if not higher.

Through this ongoing commitment these standards continue to be at the forefront of how we operate our medical group – from provider selection, standards of patient care, compliance, and regulatory oversight.

If you’re interested in learning more about what partnership with Iris Telehealth looks like,contact us today and we’d be happy to get the conversation started.

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 15% of adults aged 60 and over have a mental health condition. However, less than 3% of older adults receive treatment from mental health professionals. In some cases, this lack of care is due to inadequate access to mental health services, stigma, or other medical conditions that might need attention, too.

With the proportion of the world’s older adults estimated to almost double from about 12% to 22% between 2015 and 2050, it is more imperative than ever to start addressing both the physical and mental needs of this population.

Thankfully, telepsychiatry can connect older adults to quality mental health care, effective screening, evaluation, and treatment.

The state of mental health and aging

For older adults, there are several barriers that stand between them and getting the mental health care they need. These barriers might include access challenges, unnoticed behavioral health conditions, or co-occurring physical conditions that require treatment. Additionally, according to Mental Health America, 58% believe depression is a normal part of getting older, and only 42% of older adults would seek help from a health professional for depression.

This population can also be vulnerable to other mental health challenges like trauma and anxiety. Unfortunately, many of these conditions go untreated or undiagnosed, resulting in frequent doctor visits, emergency department visits, higher use of medication, and extended hospital stays.

While this population faces unique challenges, there is still great opportunity for them to get the mental health care they need.

How organizations can help effectively treat geriatric populations

As an organization, you can help support the geriatric population in your community by providing access to mental health care through telepsychiatry. Telepsychiatry is an essential tool that helps this population virtually connect with providers without having to navigate through waiting rooms or receive unnecessary exposure to outside elements. When patients connect with a provider from the comfort of their own home, it allows them to receive the care they need from wherever they are.

Whether your organization is seeing a large influx of older adults needing mental health care or you’ve just started integrating telepsychiatry, here are a few tips you can leverage to better serve this population.

Here’s how organizations can take action to offer a more effective and comfortable experience for older adults:

1. Promote collaboration: The ED can be a costly and high-risk endeavor for older adults. That’s why having support for caregivers and providers can be essential. Before older adults need emergency department (ED) intervention, leveraging telepsychiatry can be a great way to de-escalate situations. Collaborating with caregivers and specialty care providers through telepsychiatry can allow older adults to receive mental health care from anywhere in the country.
2. Empower caregivers: Caregivers may be juggling the care of their loved ones with their own full-time jobs, families, and even their personal health. As a solution, telehealth offers a new way to bring training to caregivers on their own time. Sharing strategies with caregivers about home safety and medical care through telehealth allows for a better quality of life for the older adults they provide care for at home. Equipping them with the right skills and techniques to care for their loved ones can be a beneficial resource for keeping older adults healthy at home.
3. Intervene early: Having decision trees or care pathways in place for your providers to follow can keep older adult patients healthy between appointments. Rather than waiting, it’s better to intervene early by starting with screening. Leveraging the expertise of specialty mental health providers can relieve stress on care teams and take the pressure off primary care providers through collaborative care.
4. Establish memory care units or dementia care: Memory care units or dementia care units can provide older adults with individualized services if diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia. It can also provide a safe environment for easy monitoring while promoting independence.
5. Take a holistic approach: Provider collaboration leads to a holistic approach to patient care. While addressing the physical health of this population is essential, it’s important to screen them for mental health conditions as well. Telepsychiatry can offer an easier way to diagnose older adults and mitigate emergency intervention. Additionally, integrating a virtual care option can support your on-site team by allowing them to collaborate with other providers.

Promoting access to geriatric mental health through telepsychiatry

Providing telepsychiatry to older adults increases their access to the specialty mental health care they need. While this population may face a stigma that says they’re not tech-savvy, it isn’t true.

Technology usage among older adults has increased during the pandemic. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) reports that 44% of older adults view technology as a positive way to stay connected. In addition, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) says that telepsychiatry has helped treat many behavioral health conditions like dementia, anxiety, and others since the late 1900s.

Telepsychiatry for the geriatric population provides patients with a sense of autonomy while extending services to those who cannot leave their homes. As technology usage increases, older adults can feel at ease knowing they have options to take care of their health.

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

At Iris, we believe that everyone should have access to mental health services in their community. If you’re an organization looking to incorporate telepsychiatry for your geriatric population, we can help. Contact us today if you would like to learn more about how telepsychiatry can help provide behavioral health services and increase access for older adults in your community.

Over the last several years, children in the U.S. have faced increased rates of mental health challenges and more barriers to the specialty care they need. Whether it’s long wait times, provider shortage constraints, or social determinants of health, getting care isn’t easy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),1 in 5 children have a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder. Still, only about 20% receive care from a specialized mental health provider. This lack of access and increase in mental health challenges has been declared a national mental health emergency.

Thankfully, there are solutions in place to help increase access to mental health care for this population and help improve their experience in health systems and emergency departments across the country.

Best practices for providers treating children and adolescents

For families, seeking care for a mental health need can feel overwhelming. For children, it may feel like one of the hardest days of their lives. However, with the right support and best practices in places, providers and organizations can set children and families up for success.

Let’s take a look at a few approaches providers can take to create a more comfortable experience for children and their families:

1. Acknowledge that the child is in crisis: Being in a psych unit can be daunting for anyone, and it’s especially stressful for children during an evaluation. That’s why acknowledging the feelings and emotions children and families may be experiencing is critical. By supporting them emotionally, you can help reassure them that their feelings are valid and create a more positive introduction to the health system.
2. Work in conjunction with telepsychiatry providers: If your healthcare organization has partnered with a telepsychiatry solution, you have access to remote specialty providers with behavioral health expertise. This access to clinicians like psychiatrists, LCSWs, and PMHNPs, offers a great opportunity to collaborate and utilize their knowledge as a resource. Specialists can help guide the patient to the next level of care and offer valuable insights. By collaborating with other providers, your care team can enable comprehensive care and better health outcomes.
3. Offer resources and support for families: Entering the mental health system for the first time can be scary, especially for children and families. Families may not know where to go or how to navigate the system. However, by leading with an empathetic approach and offering guidance, families may feel more comfortable with the process. By taking the time to hear them, see them, and direct them to the right resources, you can help children and families have a more positive experience.

Resources and training opportunities for providers

There are plenty of resources available for providers to learn more about best practices and sharpen their skills.

Here are a few resources and continuing education opportunities that can help set providers up to facilitate the best care possible to youth entering your health system:

1. Medscape’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Learning Center: Medscape’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Learning Center offers several continuing education opportunities. Their learning center cover topics frequently encountered while treating children and adolescents in health systems, like youth suicide rates and risk, ADHD medication misuse, and mental health surveillance among children.
2. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP): The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is a non-profit organization that focuses on topics related to youth and adolescent psychiatric care. They offer clinically relevant, evidence-based pediatric resources for providers and can range from self-study courses, lectures from AACAP speakers, and tests.
3. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): The American Academy of Pediatrics is a professional organization made up of physicians who focus on child and adolescent health care. They offer an assortment of video series and telehealth resources that are designed to help providers care for children and adolescents with mental health concerns. For example, they have a video series about how to help adolescents feel in control during times of distress which can be applied in the emergency department.

Telepsychiatry can bridge gaps in mental health care

Telepsychiatry is a powerful tool that can help children get the care they need, when they need it. Telepsychiatry is especially essential for children and families living in rural areas given 70% of American counties do not have a child psychiatrist. Telepsychiatry has been a significant solution in getting children the mental health care they need, no matter their proximity to the necessary specialty care.

When families have a virtual visit as an option for care, they no longer need to travel long distances to get support for their child’s mental health needs. Telepsychiatry helps support continuity of care and gives families the flexibility to make it to their appointments. Parents don’t have to take off work, kids don’t have to miss school, and providers can work from the comfort of their own home, too.

For organizations, telepsychiatry helps increase the number of specialty providers available to their community. Additionally, it can also help give on-site providers an opportunity to lean on remote providers for their behavioral health expertise. This collaboration allows for high-quality care and better patient outcomes.

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

At Iris, we help ensure that children and families can get the high-quality, specialty care they need. That’s why we work hard to match healthcare organizations with the specialty providers they need to help their communities thrive – regardless of geographic barriers.

Contact us today if you would like to learn more about how telepsychiatry can help provide behavioral health services and increase access for children and adolescents in your community.

In October 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics, alongside the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association, declared a national emergency in children’s mental health – citing the stress brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing fight for racial justice as key factors in the worsening mental health crisis.

These challenges have affected children across the board, and those in rural areas have been particularly affected. Given this population’s proximity to mental health resources and other unique barriers like transportation and economic hardship, getting behavioral health support isn’t always possible.

Thankfully, with the right solutions at play, healthcare organizations can help the youth in their communities access the right help at the right time – regardless of geographical barriers.

Common mental health challenges rural youth face

One of the first steps to helping rural youth is understanding their experiences. Rural communities face increased economic hardships and have fewer community resources available. Whether it’s medical or behavioral health care, there is a lack of options for individuals in rural communities.

Let’s take a closer look at a few of these barriers rural youth may face when seeking mental health care:

Less access to care: When fewer services are available, there’s a lack of opportunities for children to get help. If a child needs specialty care, their family may need to travel long distances. A commute to see a specialist may require time away from work and school – which may not be feasible for ongoing care.

Substance use challenges: Rural areas have experienced an uptick in substance use rates for youth and adults alike. When it comes to addressing these challenges in kids, it can be difficult to find the correct treatment. Additionally, caregivers who struggle with substance use may be unable to provide consistent care and support.

Mental health stigma: Stigma can prove even more challenging for those living in rural communities with limited access to mental health resources. This population deals with unique barriers regarding anonymity in their communities, health literacy, pervasive provider shortages, transportation challenges, and religious barriers.

While these challenges might feel daunting, there are several best practices that can help create increased opportunities for mental health care.

The role of telepsychiatry in rural America

Gaining access to specialty providers can prove challenging for healthcare organizations in rural America. However, that’s what makes telepsychiatry an essential best practice for reaching youth in these communities. Telepsychiatry connects organizations with a large pool of providers from all over the U.S. to help ensure they have the right behavioral health specialist to meet the needs of their communities. At Iris Telehealth, we call this process provider matching.

This approach helps organizations find the perfect provider fit to address their communities’ challenges effectively. Additionally, telepsychiatry allows children to connect to high-quality, specialty providers from the privacy of their homes. Virtual access to behavioral health care also enables this population to get help and maintain their anonymity at a community level.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) calls telepsychiatry’s reach into rural and remote areas one of the best successes of telemedicine. The APA also cites that satisfaction has been superior for patients, families, and providers.

How healthcare organizations can support their communities

Reaching this community with high-quality care starts with implementing some best practices. Here are a few ideas your organization may consider to help support the mental health needs of your community:

Create a centralized location for care: When it comes to virtual care, ensuring patients have internet access is essential. For healthcare organizations in rural communities, that might look like creating a centralized place where patients can go for their appointments. In most clinical settings, a medical assistant will bring the patient into the room to ensure everything is ready to go for the appointment. This provider will confirm an internet connection and introduce the patient to the doctor.

Set expectations: When using telepsychiatry, setting expectations upfront is essential. This process may start with educating the patients about what they can expect during a telepsychiatry visit. For patients accessing their telehealth appointment from home, providers should let them know that all the rules for a confidential in-person health appointment apply to telepsychiatry. Providers can also check in with the patients and families about how they’re feeling about telehealth, ask what’s working, and let them know that it might take time to adjust to the platform.

Educate the community: Healthcare organizations can reach more kids by communicating with schools about what behavioral health support is available. This approach also connects healthcare organizations with school counselors who can make referrals.

Provide family support: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a prolonged trauma. Research from previous disasters and traumas show that a child’s ability to handle stress is directly related to their caregiver’s ability to handle anxiety. So, making sure that the child’s caregiver has support is a central component in helping a child’s mental health.

Amid a behavioral health crisis, there’s always a need for education around anxiety related to going back to school, the COVID-19 pandemic, gun violence, and anything else that may occur in the community. Thankfully, there are always outreach opportunities to educate families, provide support, and increase awareness of available community resources.

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

At Iris, we partner with communities in need of mental health resources. By providing rural populations access to specialty behavioral health providers from around the country, we can help support their needs. Contact us today if you would like to learn more about how telepsychiatry can support your community.

Expanding your team with remote providers benefits your on-site clinicians, patients, and organization overall. Whether you’ve already got a hybrid of on-site and remote providers working for your organization or you’re adding new virtual clinicians to your team, there are several tips and tricks that can help you along the way.

Keep reading to learn more about the benefits, common challenges, and recommendations for providers and organizations to help effectively integrate telepsychiatry into your care team.

What does a truly integrated remote and on-site team look like?

When your clinician team is technically, culturally, and logistically well-integrated, your remote providers will feel and operate like an extension of your on-site team.

So, what does true integration look like exactly? Culturally, this integration can include participating in care team meetings, joining clinical medical leadership discussions, invitations to conferences, social or outside-of-work team events, and even fun gatherings like happy hours. This inclusion can help providers feel more comfortable by allowing them to spend time with other clinicians on their team.

The technical and logistical aspects of provider integration are also crucial in building long-term partnerships. That’s what makes a meet and greet so essential. This process can help ensure a good match between the providers and clinic staff before bringing them onboard.

The benefits of effectively incorporating telepsychiatry into your organization

When remote care teams are integrated and work together smoothly, on-site providers, organizations, and patients can all benefit.

Here’s how:

Collaboration of care: The initial patient evaluation, typically an hour long, is the most commonly missed by patients. With remote providers to lean on, your patients will never miss out on care because they can’t make it to an on-site appointment.

Addressing specialty mental health needs: The main advantage of having remote behavioral health providers on your clinical team is managing a broader spectrum of behavioral health care needs. Having on-site and remote providers gives patients more options and opportunities to get the care they need. Your organization can learn how to seamlessly address mental health care in your space through collaboration and coordination of care. Telepsychiatry helps elevate collaboration even further by making specialty providers with specific mental health expertise readily available for organizations, on-site providers, and patients.

Increase in patient comfort: Many remote providers appreciate seeing a patient in their home environment as it can inform care and make the patient feel more comfortable. For patients with anxiety who aren’t comfortable leaving their houses, telepsychiatry can be a particularly beneficial option. In fact, 85.52% of patients report that telemedicine has made getting the care they need easier.

Solving common integration challenges

So, what happens if a remote provider doesn’t appear to be a good match with the organization? It’s natural that there might be initial challenges when bringing new providers onto your care team. At Iris Telehealth, we help with common integrations and ongoing relationship challenges by facilitating and guiding the communication between provider and organization.

Our teams are invested when the clinician is introduced to an organization and stay engaged throughout a provider’s service. By advocating and mediating for both organizations and providers, we ensure the relationship, and ultimately patient care, remain high-quality.

Additionally, we get ahead of potential challenges by ensuring the clinical match is right the first time. We call this process “provider matching.” Provider matching can be a great way to combat these common integration challenges. Furthermore, working with an organization that delivers proven provider matching services is invaluable to seamless integration. However, if things aren’t going smoothly logistically or culturally, we’re still there to help. We’re looking for long-term matches that will meet your needs and match you with the perfect provider for your team.

Communication tips and recommendations

Naturally, as teams integrate, remote and on-site providers might experience growing pains and need to settle into new workflows. However, knowing a few tips and tricks can set your organization up for success. Here are four ways to embrace remote providers and help them feel like a part of the team:

1. Clear communication: Communication is key for providers working in a remote setting. By figuring out how you’ll communicate with your remote colleague, you can provide the best care for your patients. Consider whether you’ll communicate through the EMR or video or audio-only calls. Additionally, knowing the frequency of communication can also help set expectations between providers.
2. Be upfront with expectations: Be sure to communicate expectations upfront. That way, everyone will know their role when the time comes to provide the best care possible for their patients. The best way to ensure seamless integration is to prepare the operational conversations about bringing in a new provider. This operational conversation can be in the form of an interview or a meet and greet, where the provider and clinical team can discuss practice philosophies, scheduling preferences, and other essential logistics. Additionally, you can discuss what types of patients your organization sees, how patients are managed, avenues of care, and anything else you want your remote provider to be aware of. If you’re an organization new to telepsychiatry and unsure what to ask, that’s okay! At Iris, we facilitate these conversations and work to ensure the clinical match is a good fit.
3. Regular meetings: You can facilitate team collaboration and integrated patient care by blocking time for meetings that include your remote provider. For example, some providers have meetings with their on-site teams where they can bounce ideas off each other and connect. Offering ways to collaborate outside of seeing patients is an excellent way for integrated teams to provide excellent care while getting to know each other.
4. Don’t treat remote providers as contractors: Remote and on-site providers have the same goals and work on the same team. Remote providers tend to be happier and stay longer when they can connect with other providers and feel included in their organization.

How Iris Can Help

At Iris, we match you with providers who can integrate seamlessly into your care team technically, culturally, and logistically. With nearly a decade of experience, we share our best practices and expertise. Iris can help you fill gaps in your behavioral health services, whether it’s therapy services or various in-patient or outpatient psychiatric care. One of our core values is people over all else and our providers and partners are no exception. If you’d like to learn more, contact us today.

Delivering quality, sustainable behavioral health care should be a priority for any healthcare organization. However, this goal isn’t always attainable due to resource restraints or the current provider shortage. That’s where telepsychiatry steps in to help facilitate access to high-quality behavioral health care and extend existing behavioral health programs to healthcare organizations across the country.

While navigating the fast-growing and rapidly evolving world of telepsychiatry, finding a partner you trust is essential. The right partner should work with you to support the long-term well-being of both your organization and your patients.

But, how do you find the right fit? Read on to learn all the questions you should ask to ensure you find the most effective and patient-focused telepsychiatry partner for your organization.

General questions to ask a telepsychiatry vendor

With so much growth in the world of telehealth, this basic information has never been more critical in the vendor selection process. By asking the following questions, you can help narrow in on partners who can offer your patients high-quality, long-term care.

Questions to consider:

• How many dedicated employees does the organization have on staff? If possible, ask if you can see an organizational chart broken down by department, person, and title.
• How many clinicians do they currently have on staff? How many are W2 employees versus 1099 contractors?
• Does the company have experience licensing providers through IMLC and ENLC?
• How many psychiatrists have applied to their organization in the last year?
• Can they provide 5-6 references? How long have they been working with their current partners?
• How many of their partner organizations provide similar services to the one your organization offers?

These questions can help you determine which vendor can provide the most compassionate care your patients deserve. For example, you can learn a lot about care quality and provider access by asking how many employees a vendor currently has on staff or whether or not their providers are 1099 contractors or W2 employees. Gathering these insights is key to finding the right fit for your organization.

Telepsychiatry and the importance of job matching

Finding the right provider fit is key to your patients’ well-being and your organization’s success. By working with a telepsychiatry vendor that delivers job matching services, you can find a provider who meets your organization’s needs and fills in care gaps. However, not every telepsychiatry vendor can make successful, long-term matches. That’s why it’s important to know what questions to ask.

Questions to Consider:

• Does the company have a rigorous provider vetting process?
• What type of providers does the company have available? PMHNPs? LCSWs? Specialist providers like child psychiatrists or bilingual providers?
• Does the company get to know your organization’s needs, culture, and values?
• Will the telepsychiatry provider offer a meet and greet to ensure you and the provider are on the same page?

Getting the answer to these questions is essential for selecting a telepsychiatry vendor. At Iris, we believe job matching is a necessary piece of the puzzle. That’s why we created the Iris Match. We take pride in this approach, and we think it’s a crucial piece of the puzzle. When matching a provider with an organization, we work to ensure the match is mutually beneficial. We guarantee that by the end of our match process, your care team and your patients will love.

Telepsychiatry’s approach to quality control and assurance

Ensuring your patients get the high-quality mental health care they deserve is essential. But, how do you ensure that your potential partner can meet this requirement? One option is to review their recognized third-party accreditations and look into other fundamental aspects of their business model and priorities.

Questions to Consider:

• Is the company Joint Commission accredited for behavioral health?
• Does the company have experience meeting HEDIS measures or other quality benchmarks?
• Is the company a medical group that’s clinician-led and clinically driven?

Joint Commission accreditation enables an organization to credential more quickly and offers assurance that you, as a healthcare organization, will receive high-quality services. At Iris Telehealth, we’re proud to be led by clinicians and healthcare experts and the only telepsychiatry company to receive Joint Commission accreditation for behavioral health.

Questions to ask about telepsychiatry implementation

Implementing telepsychiatry and successfully integrating the services into your organization’s workflow requires focused time, effort, and care about your practice, providers, and patients. Getting specifics on their approach is crucial to getting your service up and running successfully.

Questions to Consider:

• Is the vendor technology agnostic? Can they seamlessly integrate within your existing platforms?
• Does the vendor develop custom workflows?
• Will the vendor’s providers use your existing EMR for notes and documentation?

At Iris, we provide best-in-class support that ensures your organization is set up for long-term success. We work within your existing systems and workflows to ensure a seamless transition for your team. Additionally, we take care of tasks like licensing and credentialing to help relieve the burden on your teams. By making integration as seamless as possible, we help set your organization and your patients up for success.

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

Iris Telehealth is dedicated to improving patient outcomes with exceptional behavioral health care while decreasing the burden on your care team. Contact us today if you’d like to learn more about our approach to job matching, our in-depth expertise, or our best-in-class support.