Jacksonville, FL – Youth Crisis Center, Inc. (YCC), which provides short-term crisis care, mental health counseling, skills-based group training and transitional living services for children, teens, young adults and their families, and InSight Telepsychiatry are pleased to announce a new partnership to increase psychiatric coverage for individuals seeking mental health care.
Telepsychiatry is the delivery of psychiatry through real time videoconferencing. It has been found to be an effective form of care delivery and a convenient, cost-effective way to safely expand psychiatric support without the challenge of staffing an in-person psychiatry provider.
The services provided through the telepsychiatry program will include the same services someone would receive in-person, with the goal of treating children and adolescents so they achieve a balanced and healthy lifestyle.
Mental health is a top concern in Florida. Florida has approximately 400,000 children who need mental health services, but 55% of them do not get any treatment.[1] Across the state, there are only 412 child and adolescent psychiatrists. This means there are 10 child and adolescent providers per 100,000 individuals.[2]
A survey done by the Florida Department of Health ranked mental health care as the third-hardest health care service to obtain in Duval County, where YCC is located. In the county, there is one mental health professional per 153 individuals seeking mental health treatment.[3]
“There is a strong need for child and adolescent mental health services in our community and we’re excited to supplement our program with telepsychiatry,” said Cecelia Stalnaker-Cauwenberghs, Chief Clinical Officer at YCC.
“Telepsychiatry gives communities unprecedented access to mental health care specialists. We are pleased to partner with Youth Crisis Center, Inc. to offer this service. Telepsychiatry is a great solution, not only in Florida, but also in many other states across the nation where there is significant mental health need and a shortage of psychiatry providers,” said Jonathan Posten, Senior Director of Operations.
About Youth Crisis Center, Inc.
Founded in 1974 as Florida’s first runaway program, Youth Crisis Center has grown to one of the largest and best-known providers of services for youth and families. YCC’s emphasis on care is for those who have been exposed to traumatic situations such as divorce, homelessness, relocation, loss of life, bullying and abuse. YCC provides a variety of services for children, adolescents, young adults, parents and families.
About InSight Telepsychiatry
InSight is the leading national telepsychiatry service provider organization with a mission to increase access to quality behavioral health care through innovative applications of technology. InSight has over two decades of telepsychiatry experience and serves hundreds of organizations across the country with its on-demand, scheduled services and Inpathy divisions. InSight is uniquely positioned to offer scalable telepsychiatry services in settings across the continuum of care. InSight has a diverse team of psychiatry providers, a robust internal infrastructure and a history of adapting its programs to fit the needs of a variety of different settings and populations. InSight has led the growth of the telepsychiatry industry and remains an industry thought leader and advocate. InSight Telepsychiatry and Regroup Telehealth recently merged to become the largest and most comprehensive telepsychiatry service provider in the US. To learn more about telepsychiatry and how it can benefit you or your organization, visit www.InSightTelepsychiatry.com.
[1] https://www.wptv.com/news/state/more-mental-health-treatment-sought-for-children-in-florida
[2] https://www.aacap.org/aacap/Advocacy/Federal_and_State_Initiatives/Workforce_Maps/Home.aspx
[3] https://thecoastal.com/community/mental-health-jacksonville/
NORFOLK, VA – InSight Telepsychiatry was invited to present a grand rounds presentation at Eastern Virginia Medical School on December 11, 2019 from 12-1pm for the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health.
Shelley Sellinger, MD, a psychiatrist specializing in adult services including anxiety and depression, sexual and gender issues, substance use and addiction, trauma and abuse, and psychopharmacology presented. Dr. Sellinger has over two decades of psychiatry experience and has been practicing telepsychiatry for five years. Prior to telepsychiatry, Dr. Sellinger provided clinical outpatient services, worked in various locations with Psychiatric Locums, assisted the Sullivan County, New York, Department of Human Services as a psychiatry consultant, and has been operating her own private practice.
In her presentation entitled, Telebehavioral Health Best Practices for Providers, Dr. Sellinger discussed:
As an appropriate demonstration of telemedicine’s technological capabilities, Dr. Sellinger presented via videoconference. Those in attendance were left with a few “Telepsychiatry Takeaways” to remember as they continue their work in the behavioral health field.
About InSight + Regroup
InSight + Regroup (now Array Behavioral Care) is the leading and largest telepsychiatry service provider in the US with a mission to transform access to quality behavioral health care. InSight + Regroup serves hundreds of organizations and individuals in various settings across the continuum of care with its on-demand, scheduled services and direct-to-consumer (Inpathy) divisions. Given its size, diversity of services and extensive experience and expertise, InSight + Regroup is uniquely positioned to enable scalable telepsychiatry programs across the care continuum. As an industry thought leader, InSight + Regroup has helped shape the field, define the standard of care and advocate for improved telepsychiatry-friendly regulations. To learn more, visit www.arraybc.com.
PHILADELPHIA, PA / CHICAGO, IL, Dec. 10, 2019 – InSight Telepsychiatry and Regroup Telehealth have merged to become the largest and most comprehensive telepsychiatry service provider in the US.
The merger between InSight and Regroup brings together a robust network of providers and an impressive group of clinical and executive leaders with extensive experience and expertise across different care settings and patient populations for underserved individuals and communities. This joint effort will allow for increased delivery of mental health services across the country in response to a nationwide shortage of specialists coupled with a rising need for behavioral health services.
InSight Telepsychiatry and Regroup Announce Merger to Become Largest Telepsychiatry Provider in the US
“InSight is excited about the merger with Regroup and the opportunities it represents. Our organizations are remarkably similar in terms of culture, values and vision for the future. By combining our passion, drive and efforts, we will continue to set the standard for telepsychiatry delivery, leading the way to unprecedented access to care to those who need it most,” said Geoffrey Boyce, CEO of InSight and the new combined organization. “This merger allows us to align our shared goals, operational efficiencies and established models to offer scalable solutions across the continuum of care.”
InSight Telepsychiatry, based in Mt Laurel, NJ, has more than twenty years of telepsychiatry experience and serves hundreds of organizations in various settings with its on-demand, scheduled and direct-to-consumer (Inpathy) divisions. Since its inception, InSight has maintained its reputation as a trusted and experienced industry thought leader by upholding a high standard of clinical care and actively advocating for increased adoption of telebehavioral health.
Regroup, founded in 2011 and based in Chicago, brings customized telepsychiatry solutions, technology and comprehensive support teams that contribute to the seamless integration of behavioral health clinicians at partner care sites. With backing from a group of funders including the Hyde Park Angels and Frist Cressey Ventures, Regroup grew quickly. Their clinicians collaborate with onsite care teams on patient care plans and workflows, yielding better behavioral care, shorter wait times and reduced barriers in settings such as primary care clinics, community health centers, hospitals and correctional facilities.
“Regroup is excited to complement our proven approach to integrated telepsychiatry with InSight’s breadth of services, including on-demand services for partners and direct-to-consumer solutions for patients seeking care at home or other care settings of their choice,” said David Cohn, Founder and CEO of Regroup. Cohn will serve as Chief Growth Officer and maintain a seat on the board of directors for the newly combined organization.
The investors in the new Telepsychiatry company
Investors in the combined company include Harbour Point Capital, HLM Venture Partners, OCA Ventures, OSF Ventures, and Impact Engine. Ziegler, a specialty investment bank, represented Regroup in the merger process.
“Geoffrey and the leadership team are highly regarded by both the mental health provider community and their partners. This next phase of growth will continue to improve access to mental health care for underserved individuals, facilities and communities,” said David Crane, Chairman of the new organization’s board and a Partner at Harbour Point Capital.
“HLM has been a firm supporter of Regroup and is proud to see the impact they have made on how behavioral health services are provided virtually across the US. This merger marks a new chapter where the combined entity will be uniquely positioned to shape the future of the telebehavioral market even further,” said Vin Fabiani of HLM Venture Partners. Fabiani will continue to serve on the new organization’s board of directors.
About InSight Telepsychiatry
Founded by child and adolescent psychiatrist, Jim Varrell, MD, InSight is the leading national telepsychiatry service provider with a mission to transform access to quality behavioral health care through innovative applications of technology. InSight has more than two decades of telepsychiatry experience and serves hundreds of organizations across the country with its on-demand, scheduled services and Inpathy divisions. InSight has led the growth of the telepsychiatry industry and remains an industry thought leader and advocate. To learn more, visit www.InSightTelepsychiatry.com.
About Regroup Telehealth
In partnership with providers at more than 175 care locations across America, Regroup brings individualized mental health services to deliver hundreds of thousands of patient sessions per year. Regroup’s clinician-focused culture attracts highly qualified clinicians that are supported by a dedicated team of recruiting, licensing and credentialing, account management, clinician relations and technical implementation teams. For more information, visit www.regrouptelehealth.com.
The two organizations will continue to utilize their respective names and brands throughout the integration process.
Sarah Plumridge
press@regrouptelehealth.com
312.506.5218
Michelle Mann
mmann@in-sight.net
443.605.2399
Regroup recently presented at Zoom's user conference, Zoomtopia 2019. As part of a healthcare panel, Regroup's own Medical Director and SVP of Behavioral Health, Dr. Hossam Mahmoud discussed best practices for building, integrating and expanding telehealth solutions during a session titled: Taking your Telehealth program to Warp Speed.
Reliable technology can be the difference between effective telehealth solutions and low-quality patient care. As a nationwide provider of integrated telemental health services, Regroup delivers top-tier performance through all technical elements of its care delivery model, including the secure, HIPAA-compliant RegroupConnect virtual care platform. With Zoom as the platform's foundation, this ensures uninterrupted patient experiences and high-quality care to drive better clinical outcomes.
Regroup was joined by Amber Humphrey, Director of Telehealth at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to discuss trends in telehealth and the significant role it will play as healthcare organizations looks to overcome geographic and budgetary challenges through innovative methods in order to deliver high-quality care to patients.
Watch the full session below:
You can read more about our partnership with Zoom in our case study to see how Regroup has leveraged high-performing, compliant videoconferencing and meeting technology to deliver over 150,000 patient sessions annually.
Contact Regroup for information on how we can partner with your organization to integrate
high-quality clinical capacity with in-house behavioral health staff.
Tags: Regroup in the News, Regroup Blog
Mount Laurel, NJ – InSight Telepsychiatry, based in Mount Laurel, NJ, celebrates its 20th year of providing telepsychiatry services. Over the past two decades, InSight has maintained its reputation as a trusted and experienced industry thought leader and has played a leading role in helping to shape the field, define the standard of care and advocate for improved regulations.
In the late 1990s, founder and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jim Varrell, recognized the need for better access to behavioral health care as the growing demand for services threatened to overwhelm local resources while the number of specialists continued to decline. He resolved to solve the problem through innovative applications of technology, at a time when technology was far from mainstream, and conducted the nation’s first telepsychiatry evaluation for an involuntary commitment. This represented a revolutionary advancement in the delivery of care and the advent of InSight Telepsychiatry as we know it today.
In 2015, InSight launched its Inpathy division, an online telebehavioral health network and platform that allows consumers to receive behavioral health services from the comfort of their home and other private spaces.
Today, InSight is the largest telepsychiatry service provider organization in the country and serves organizations and individuals at all levels across the continuum of care.
“We’ve experienced exciting times of growth and advancement along the way and remain singularly focused on our goal to transform access to care. The shortage of specialists coupled with rising awareness of and demand for behavioral health care services underscores the importance of our mission and drives us to continue to find new and innovative ways to increase access and improve care delivery for underserved populations,” said Geoffrey Boyce, CEO of InSight.
Visit our website to see a timeline of key events in InSight’s history, testimonials from InSight team members and reflections on the evolution of telemedicine and the regulatory landscape over the past 20 years.
“The milestones we have reached, the barriers we have overcome, and the accomplishments we have realized over the past 20 years are truly incredible. We are humbled by how many lives have been impacted as a result of the explosive growth in the industry and improved access to care that telepsychiatry affords. As we look ahead, we will likely see tremendous advancements that leverage technology to engage, identify, diagnose, treat and improve outcomes of patients with behavioral health disorders. InSight is uniquely positioned to harness these technical advancements because of the people and the experiences that have led us to where we are today,” added Boyce.
About InSight Telepsychiatry
InSight is the leading national telepsychiatry service provider organization with a mission to increase access to quality behavioral health care through innovative applications of technology. InSight has over two decades of telepsychiatry experience and serves hundreds of organizations across the country with its on-demand, scheduled services and Inpathy divisions. InSight is uniquely positioned to offer scalable telepsychiatry services in settings across the continuum of care. InSight has a diverse team of psychiatry providers, a robust internal infrastructure and a history of adapting its programs to fit the needs of a variety of different settings and populations. InSight has led the growth of the telepsychiatry industry and remains an industry thought leader and advocate. To learn more about telepsychiatry and how it can benefit you or your organization, visit www.InSightTelepsychiatry.com.
For the past 20 years, InSight Telepsychiatry has led the growth of the telepsychiatry industry. Driven by our mission to transform access to health care through innovative applications of technology, InSight has provided telepsychiatry services to a multitude of settings and consumers across all populations. Given our two decades of experience within this field, InSight has become the leading national telepsychiatry service provider organization.
One reason InSight has become a leading expert in the industry is due to the early recognition that telehealth friendly federal and state regulations would be key determinants of the success of the field. Back in 1999, the regulatory landscape surrounding telemedicine and telepsychiatry was largely unregulated. Telepsychiatry was still a novel application of medicine and there were limited state and federal restrictions surrounding it. InSight turned this unregulated landscape into an opportunity to advocate for and help craft telehealth friendly guidelines and legislation that exemplified the impact that telepsychiatry could have on the practice of medicine.
Federal Level Advocacy
On a federal level, the most significant regulatory influence on telepsychiatry has been the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act. Passed in 2008, the Act is named after a young man who overdosed and subsequently died after ordering prescription pills through an online survey. The intention of this Act was to crack down on rogue internet pharmacies by limiting the prescribing of controlled substances without a prior in-person examination. On its face, the Ryan Haight Act is not intended to limit the legitimate practice of telemedicine and even went as far as to outline seven “practice of telemedicine” exceptions to the in-person examination requirement. Unfortunately, while well intentioned, the exceptions are very narrow in scope and do not fully contemplate the current and future application of telemedicine.
One of those outlined exceptions was if a provider had a special registration for telemedicine. To date, however, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has yet to develop this registration process. This lack of action spurred InSight to advocate strongly for its development for the past five years. In 2015, a group of telemedicine advocates, including InSight, started to put pressure on the DEA to create this registration. InSight worked in conjunction with a small committee from the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) Telemental Health Special Interest Group to craft a letter to the DEA that focused heavily on the applications of controlled substance prescribing for child and adolescent telepsychiatry. While this letter resulted in both groups meeting with the DEA to discuss this issue in 2016, efforts stalled again for the next several years.
In 2018, with growing attention surrounding the opioid crisis and the rise of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), interest in a special registration resurfaced due to the enactment of the Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act. Signed into law in October 2018, this package of bills was intended to combat the growing opioid crisis in the United States. One key aspect of the Act was the provision that required the DEA to create a special registration for telemedicine no later than one year after the SUPPORT Act’s enactment. For the first time since the Ryan Haight Act was adopted in 2008, the DEA had a deadline to put this registration in place.
With this deadline in place, InSight assisted the ATA in creating and releasing another letter, very similar to the 2015 letter, that provided detailed recommendations for what a special registration should look like. Overall, the recommendations were centered around the idea that the registration should allow for care anywhere, anyway, meaning that either a provider or a facility should be able to qualify for a special registration. Although the registration has yet to be proposed, InSight is continuing to be a staunch advocate to have the long-awaited registration in place in order to increase access to care to even more consumers.
State Level Advocacy
InSight’s advocacy efforts continue on the state level as well. InSight’s CEO, Geoffrey Boyce, played a key role in drafting language for New Jersey Senate Bill No. 2729, which introduced significant regulations for the proper delivery of health care services through telemedicine in 2015. He was among experts to testify before the New Jersey state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on the current and potential applications of telemedicine services and continued to be a resource to policymakers throughout the process. Boyce also played a role in passing the New Jersey Telemedicine Bill in 2017.
In addition to New Jersey, InSight assisted Delaware in drafting its own telemedicine policy. Boyce worked closely with the Delaware Telehealth Coalition, the Delaware Medical Society and other stakeholders to draft legislation that made telemedicine more broadly available in the state. The bill passed remarkably quickly and granted telemedicine parity for private payer reimbursement.
While InSight continues to advocate for telehealth regulations on both the national and state levels, present-day advocacy efforts have expanded to focus on topics such as licensure compacts. Compacts, like the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and the Nurse Licensure Compact, offer providers an expedited pathway to licensure for those who want to practice in multiple states. This is important particularly for telemedicine providers since all states require providers to be licensed in the state where the patient is located at the time of the encounter. Given that the traditional licensure application process is typically redundant and time-consuming, InSight has been a strong advocate for compacts as they create a more streamlined process for licensure in participating states. Furthermore, InSight recently joined the ATA’s Interstate Special Interest Group that focuses on increasing states’ uptake in introducing compact legislation and on education around the benefits of these compacts.
Overall, InSight is committed to the growth of appropriate, clinically sound telepsychiatry and will continue to advocate for telehealth friendly policies and regulations across the county. Backed with 20 years of experience, InSight is prepared to help influence positive telehealth regulations for years to come.
About InSight Telepsychiatry
InSight is the leading national telepsychiatry service provider organization with a mission to increase access to quality behavioral health care through innovative applications of technology. InSight has over two decades of telepsychiatry experience and serves hundreds of organizations across the country with its on-demand, scheduled services and Inpathy divisions. InSight is uniquely positioned to offer scalable telepsychiatry services in settings across the continuum of care. InSight has a diverse team of psychiatry providers, a robust internal infrastructure and a history of adapting its programs to fit the needs of a variety of different settings and populations. InSight has led the growth of the telepsychiatry industry and remains an industry thought leader and advocate. To learn more about telepsychiatry and how it can benefit you or your organization, visit www.InSightTelepsychiatry.com.
As InSight celebrates 20 years of providing telepsychiatry services, we look back at where the telemedicine industry has been and ahead in the direction of where the industry is going.
In 1879, Punch magazine envisioned the future of medicine with an Edison-esque dream machine, the telephonoscope. The idea being images, sounds and light could be transmitted in real-time to a remote audience. Even before the world was introduced to the first television, the idea of telemedicine was alive in the mind.
Flash forward almost 100 years later and AT&T has released its first video phone, NASA started delivering medical services via televideo to rural Native American reservations, and in 1999, Dr. James Varrell, Chief Medical Officer of InSight Telepsychiatry, committed the first patient via telepsychiatry.
Since its inception, InSight has been dedicated to transforming access to care and has been at the forefront of the latest telepsychiatry innovations.
Now, healthcare is moving into a new era. The industry has spent the last two decades collecting data and questioning what to do with it all. The vast array of electronic medical record systems have started to condense and align to standardize data across the spectrum of care. Interoperability has been the buzzword for years. The looming notions of Big Data and artificial intelligence have stepped from the shadows and into the spotlight. Additionally, while consumers have historically been shut out of their own care, the patient is quickly becoming King.
Scheduling an appointment with your therapist
Picture this reality:
You walk in the door at home and your smartwatch lights up. It’s suggesting you schedule an appointment with your therapist. Why?
You know you’ve had a series of pretty awful weeks – that giant project at work just fell through, you can’t remember the last time you hung out with your friends, and the scale in the bathroom is showing a number you’d rather not talk about. What you may not realize is that your watch and the voice controlled device in your living room know all of this too, and the data these devices have captured show you’ve reached a critical threshold (according to a universally-accepted algorithm) for depression.
When you ask the virtual assistant to add eggs to the grocery list, the inflections in your voice could be an indicator that your mental health is suffering. Your smartwatch hasn’t logged any exercise for a few weeks, another potential flag. Your calendar app shows you’ve been all work and no play. From your family history logged in your primary care clinician’s mobile app, your family has a history of depression, too. Based on the predictive models built through your data and millions of others’, an appointment with your therapist might help you get ahead of larger issues.
It’s a future that’s not far off from our reality. Groups like the Scripps Research Institute and IBM’s Watson are attempting to build these predictive models with Big Data collected through telemedicine and traditional care avenues. Prevention using these early indicators may not be cheaper yet, but it certainly can improve outcomes and increase provider efficiency. While behavioral health in particular faces a psychiatry shortage, our future lies in utilizing these new tools, this data, to drive better decision-making and better patient care.
Artificial intelligence can be applied to telepsychiatry to further increase access to mental and behavioral health services for those in need. This includes the use of voice assistants that could help to identify vocal inflexion or use commonly asked questions to determine if someone may be in need of mental health services. Additionally, chatbots can be used to educate individuals on various health concerns and general wellness, and help them keep up with their treatment plan. As we continue to treat the whole patient, gathering data from across both physical and mental health will be critical for anticipating health issues. Finally, while artificial intelligence will never replace healthcare providers, it can help to promote their productivity.
InSight’s roots extend much further than the last 20 years, and our thought leadership will have lasting impact into this new era. Initiatives like Inpathy, the first virtual group practice for behavioral health, has increased access to care for thousands of consumers to date. We are excited to continue to transform access to mental health care for years to come.
About InSight Telepsychiatry
InSight is the leading national telepsychiatry service provider organization with a mission to increase access to quality behavioral health care through innovative applications of technology. InSight has over two decades of telepsychiatry experience and serves hundreds of organizations across the country with its on-demand, scheduled services and Inpathy divisions. InSight is uniquely positioned to offer scalable telepsychiatry services in settings across the continuum of care. InSight has a diverse team of psychiatry providers, a robust internal infrastructure and a history of adapting its programs to fit the needs of a variety of different settings and populations. InSight has led the growth of the telepsychiatry industry and remains an industry thought leader and advocate. To learn more about telepsychiatry and how it can benefit you or your organization, visit www.InSightTelepsychiatry.com.
Hershey, PA – The Institute for Learning & Behavioral Sciences, which provides comprehensive psychoeducational, learning, cognitive and psychological evaluations for children, adolescents and adults, and InSight Telepsychiatry are pleased to announce a new partnership to increase psychiatric coverage for individuals seeking mental health care in an outpatient setting. This new telepsychiatry program is expected to launch in December, but scheduling is open now.
Telepsychiatry is the delivery of psychiatry through real time videoconferencing. It has been found to be an effective form of care delivery and a convenient, cost-effective way to safely expand psychiatric support without the challenge of staffing an in-person psychiatry provider.
Clint Stankiewicz, Psy.D, owner and executive director of the Institute for Learning & Behavioral Sciences, saw a need in the community for more access to psychiatric care. In addition to increasing access to care in the community, this program will offer psychiatric services to individuals who already receive mental health services at the Institute for Learning & Behavioral Sciences, if needed. This allows them to continue treatment at their current location as opposed to being referred to a different organization.
Institute for Learning & Behavioral Sciences Launches New Telepsychiatry Program in Hershey, Pennsylvania
Mental health is a top concern in Pennsylvania. There is a statewide average of 179 providers per 100,000 in population, which is below the national average of 214 to 100,000.[1] This comes out to one mental health provider per 600 individuals.[2] Of the approximately 12.9 million people living in Pennsylvania, 4% of adults live with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression with many more living with any mental illness such as depression or anxiety.[3] Only 35% of the state need for mental health services is met.[4]
In central Pennsylvania, where Hershey is located, people commonly wait six months for an appointment with a psychiatrist.[5]
“As a mental health provider working in an outpatient setting, I saw an unmet need for psychiatry services in the Hershey area. Implementing a telepsychiatry program will give more people access to psychiatric services and will allow individuals that I see to continue receiving services at this location,” said Dr. Stankiewicz.
“Telepsychiatry gives communities unprecedented access to mental health care specialists. We are pleased to partner with the Institute for Learning & Behavioral Science to offer this service. Telepsychiatry is a great solution, not only in Pennsylvania, but also in many other states across the nation where there is significant mental health need and a shortage of psychiatry providers,” said Jonathan Posten, Senior Director of Operations.
Telepsychiatry services at The Institute for Learning & Behavioral Sciences are now available.
The holidays can be extremely hectic and people have to juggle the different demands of the season, which makes it easy to put mental health on the back burner. For some, the close of the holiday season brings a sense of relief, but for others, this brings on feelings of sadness and loneliness. Now that it is the start of a new year and a new decade, it’s the perfect time to prioritize your mental health. Schedule a telepsychiatry appointment at The Institute for Learning & Behavioral Sciences today.
About Institute for Learning & Behavioral Sciences
The Institute for Learning & Behavioral Sciences provides comprehensive psycho-education, learning, cognitive and psychological evaluations for children, adolescents & adults. Such evaluations can help determine an individual’s level of intellectual functioning, unique learning style, personality characteristics, academic achievement and social/emotional needs. They collaborate with the referral source, educational institution, parents/guardians and treating clinicians during the assessment process and are trained to utilize current research findings (such as those published by the National Institute of Health & Human Services) in the conceptualization and diagnosis.
About InSight Telepsychiatry
InSight is the leading national telepsychiatry service provider organization with a mission to increase access to quality behavioral health care through innovative applications of technology. InSight has over two decades of telepsychiatry experience and serves hundreds of organizations across the country with its on-demand, scheduled services and Inpathy divisions. InSight is uniquely positioned to offer scalable telepsychiatry services in settings across the continuum of care. InSight has a diverse team of psychiatry providers, a robust internal infrastructure and a history of adapting its programs to fit the needs of a variety of different settings and populations. InSight has led the growth of the telepsychiatry industry and remains an industry thought leader and advocate. To learn more about telepsychiatry and how it can benefit you or your organization, visit www.InSightTelepsychiatry.com.
[1] Pennsylvania Population Health Dashboard. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.haponline.org/Initiatives/Population-Health/Pennsylvania-Population-Health-Dashboard
[2] Pennsylvania Rankings. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/pennsylvania/2017/rankings/schuylkill/county/outcomes/overall/snapshot
[3] Mental Health Resources in Pennsylvania. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rtor.org/directory/mental-health-pennsylvania/
[4] Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas (n.d.). Retreived from https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/mental-health-care-health-professional-shortage-areas-hpsas/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D
[5] https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/09/psychiatrist-shortage-causing-suffering-risk-of-jail-and-suicide-in-central-pa.html
Vancouver, WA – The Sea Mar Behavioral Health Clinic in Vancouver, part of the Sea Mar Community Health Centers network, recently expanded its outpatient telepsychiatry program to increase access to psychiatric appointments for people in the Vancouver community seeking mental health treatment. Prior to the expansion, telepsychiatry services at the Vancouver clinic were available to consumers participating in a specific health plan. Based on the success of this innovative, new program and the increasing demand for mental health services in the community, Sea Mar is broadening the program to include consumers enrolled in other insurance health plans.
Sea Mar Community Health Centers Expands Telepsychiatry Program in Vancouver, Washington
This telepsychiatry program expansion is launched with longtime partner InSight Telepsychiatry, the leading national telepsychiatry service provider organization. Telepsychiatry is a delivery of psychiatry through real time videoconferencing. It is proven to be an effective form of care delivery and a convenient, cost-effective way to safely expand psychiatric support without the challenge of staffing an in-person psychiatry provider. Patients treated by telepsychiatry provider, Dr. Monica Nichols, can expect the same services and level of care that someone would receive in-person.
Dr. Nichols is a licensed, board certified adult psychiatrist and is fluent in Spanish. Dr. Nichols completed her residencies in psychiatry and pediatrics and her doctorate at the University Of California San Diego School Of Medicine.
Mental health is a top concern in Washington, as many individuals in the state are living with mental health disorders. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), approximately 5% of adults in Washington have a mental health condition and only 44% of them receive any form of treatment from either the public system or private providers. The remaining 56% receive no mental health treatment.[1] In fact, Mental Health America ranks Washington 42 out of the 50 states and Washington D.C. for prevalence of mental health and substance use issues.[2] And, the suicide rate in Washington exceeds the national average, with more than 17 suicides per 100,000 people.[3]
A significant shortage of mental health professionals
Further compounding the problem, there is a significant shortage of mental health professionals in the state, so many residents are not receiving the treatment they need. In Clark County alone, the ratio of population to mental health providers is 360:1, compared to the state ratio of 330:1.[4] This means that more than 89% of Washington’s population has inadequate access to psychiatry.[5]
“Sea Mar Community Health Centers is committed to providing quality, compassionate, comprehensive care to residents of Washington State, particularly those in underserved communities. We recognized the need for increased access to psychiatric care and are excited to expand our existing program to make telepsychiatry services available to even more of our patients. We have been extremely pleased with the service and level of care we’ve received from our telepsychiatry provider, Dr. Nichols, and patient feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. We’re looking forward to connecting her with even more patients to bring them the mental health care they need and deserve,” said Nicoleta Alb, South Regional Director of Behavioral Health Services.
“Telepsychiatry gives communities unprecedented access to mental health care specialists. We are pleased to partner with Sea Mar Community Health Centers to offer this service. Telepsychiatry is a great solution, not only in Washington, but also in many other states across the nation where there is significant mental health need and a shortage of psychiatry providers” said Jonathan Posten, Senior Director of Operations at InSight.
About Sea Mar Community Health Centers
Sea Mar Community Health Centers, founded in 1978, is a community-based organization committed to providing quality, comprehensive health, human, housing, educational and cultural services to diverse communities, specializing in service to Latinos in Washington State. Sea Mar proudly serves all persons without regard to race, ethnicity, immigration status, gender, or sexual orientation, and regardless of ability to pay for services. Sea Mar’s network of services includes more than 90 medical, dental, and behavioral health clinics and a wide variety of nutritional, social, and educational services. Learn more at www.seamar.org/.
About InSight Telepsychiatry
InSight is the leading national telepsychiatry service provider organization with a mission to increase access to quality behavioral health care through innovative applications of technology. InSight has over two decades of telepsychiatry experience and serves hundreds of organizations across the country with its on-demand, scheduled services and Inpathy divisions. InSight is uniquely positioned to offer scalable telepsychiatry services in settings across the continuum of care. InSight has a diverse team of psychiatry providers, a robust internal infrastructure and a history of adapting its programs to fit the needs of a variety of different settings and populations. InSight has led the growth of the telepsychiatry industry and remains an industry thought leader and advocate. To learn more about telepsychiatry and how it can benefit you or your organization, visit www.InSightTelepsychiatry.com.
[1] Mental Health Resources in Washington. (2019). Rtor.org. Retrieved 15 August 2019, from https://www.rtor.org/directory/mental-health-washington/
[2] Ranking the States. (2015). Mental Health America. Retrieved 2 August 2019, from https://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/ranking-states
[3] Suicide Data | Forefront. (2019). Intheforefront.org. Retrieved 15 August 2019, from http://www.intheforefront.org/resources/suicide-data/
[4] (2019). Countyhealthrankings.org. Retrieved 15 August 2019, from https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/washington/2018/rankings/clark/county/outcomes/overall/snapshot
[5] Mental Health Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). (2019). The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved 15 August 2019, from https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/mental-health-care-health-professional-shortage-areas
James Varrell, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Array Behavioral Care, was invited to present as part of a telepsychiatry workshop during the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s (AACAP) 66th Annual Meeting held in Chicago, IL from October 14-19.
Dr. Varrell is a board certified psychiatrist with a specialty in autism. He has been at the forefront of telepsychiatry and continues to educate the medical community regarding the benefits of telepsychiatry through various presentations and forums. Dr. Varrell performed the nation’s first involuntary psychiatric commitment via a televideo unit in 1999. Today, he regularly performs telepsychiatry evaluations and manages a staff of telepsychiatrists who see and treat patients across the nation.
Chief Medical Officer of Array Presents during American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Annual Meeting
This workshop, “Telepsychiatry: Getting Going and Staying in the Game,” shared best practices in telepsychiatry with children, adolescents and their families across sites, populations, healthcare landscapes and clinical practice. Topics covered during the workshop included:
The chairs of this workshop were Kathleen Myers, MD, MPH from the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital and David Pruitt, MD from the University of Maryland. Other co-presenters included Patricio Fischman, MD (Yale Child Study Center), Deepika Shaligram, MD (Boston Children’s Hospital), Shabana Khan, MD (Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital), Daniel Alicata, MD (University of Hawaii), Ujjwal Ramtekkar, MD, MBA, MPE (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), Jennifer McWilliams, MD (Children’s Hospital & Medical Center Omaha), Lloyda Broomes Williamson, MD (Mejarry Medical College), Deborah M. Brooks, MD (University of Maryland). Sarah M. Edwards, DO (University of Maryland), Taryn Park, MD (University of Hawaii), Felissa Goldstein, MD (Lee Specialty Clinic), and Amanda Schroepfer O’Kelly, MD (University of Hawaii-Manoa).
Workshop attendees included early career and established providers, mental health agencies, training program representatives and program developers interested in integrating telepsychiatry into clinical care.
AACAP’s 66th Annual Meeting is the world’s largest meeting for child and adolescent psychiatrists and others interested in children’s mental health. The mission of AACAP is to promote the healthy development of children, adolescents and families through advocacy, education and research, and to meet the professional needs of child and adolescent psychiatrists throughout their careers.
About Array
Array Behavioral Care (formerly InSight + Regroup) is the leading and largest telepsychiatry service provider in the country with a mission to transform access to quality, timely behavioral health care. Array offers telepsychiatry solutions and services across the continuum of care from hospital to home with its OnDemand Care, Scheduled Care and AtHome Care divisions. For more than 20 years, Array has partnered with hundreds of hospitals and health systems, community healthcare organizations and payers of all sizes to expand access to care and improve outcomes for underserved individuals, facilities and communities. As an industry pioneer and established thought leader, Array has helped shape the field, define the standard of care and advocate for improved telepsychiatry-friendly regulations. To learn more, visit www.arraybc.com.
