InSight Announces Recipients of Provider of the Year Award

MARLTON, NJ –InSight Telepsychiatry is recognizing the outstanding performance of its providers through its first Provider of the Year Award. Maaz Siddiqui, M.D., a scheduled services telepsychiatry provider, and Suraya Kawadry, M.D., an on-demand services telepsychiatry provider, are the 2018 recipients.

The InSight Provider of the Year Award is an annual award recognizing InSight providers who have displayed outstanding performance during the previous year. The providers are selected based on a number of performance factors, including quality of care, communication skills, flexibility, teamwork and alignment with InSight’s mission. Providers of the Year are celebrated for their exemplary work improving access to behavioral health services to underserved individuals and communities. Winners of the award exhibit excellent customer service to their peers, the staff at the partner sites they serve, the InSight administrative team and, most importantly, patients.

Spotlight on Dr. Siddiqui

The InSight Scheduled Services Provider of the Year Award goes to Dr. Maaz Siddiqui this year for his dedication to his patients and commitment to providing quality telepsychiatry services. Dr. Siddiqui is psychiatrist licensed in Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey (where he resides), and serves primarily partners in outpatient mental health settings. He had an interest in psychiatry throughout medical school and he strongly believes in getting to know his patients, not just prescribing.

“It’s not just a checklist you have to go through,” said Dr. Siddiqui. “I want to know my patients, and I really do enjoy getting to know them.”

He has been with InSight for almost two years. On a typical day, he works 8-9 hours and sees 7-10 patients or more daily. The majority of his work is medication management.

“Dr. Siddiqui has a reputation for being very thorough and time-sensitive to patients’ needs, regardless of how many are on his schedule,” said John DiNicola, InSight’s lead program coordinator of scheduled services. “I can tell when speaking to him that he is passionate about what he does and gives patients the best quality of care—they’re not just a number to him.”

When establishing a provider-patient relationship, Dr. Siddiqui says creating trust from the very beginning is most important. “I’ve heard from other providers that rapport can be a problem, but it isn’t for me,” he said “I let patients know that it might be difficult at first, but I want to establish that trust and rapport from the very beginning, putting their anxiety at ease.”

Dr. Siddiqui is also known for his excellent communication with InSight’s operations team. “He is always quick to inform our operations team of matters that need our attention,” said DiNicola. “He has been a great InSight citizen.”

Spotlight on Dr. Kawadry

The InSight On-Demand Services Provider of the Year Award goes to Suraya Kawadry this year for her hard work and positivity as she increases access to psychiatric care to those in need across the country. Dr. Kawadry is a child and adolescent psychiatrist who lives in Missouri. In the true spirit of telepsychiatry, Dr. Kawadry is licensed not only in Missouri but also Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, New Jersey, Montana, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington. After a per-diem role with InSight during her fellowship, she transitioned to a full-time role working as a crisis telepsychiatrist serving hospitals in the many states where she is licensed.

Dr. Kawadry is regularly complimented for being a pleasure to work with, responsive in her communication, positive and flexible. Dr. Kawadry is always the first telepsychiatry provider to help out her peers by covering shifts when needed.  “The InSight team often hears positive comments from its partners about her,” said April Isik, InSight’s program coordinator of on-demand services.

After she completed her medical school rotations, Dr. Kawadry decided to enter the field of psychiatry since it was the only rotation that she enjoyed and that intrigued her. As an on-demand telepsychiatry provider, Dr. Kawadry now immerses herself in the busy life of a crisis psychiatrist from the comfort of her home. She typically sees 8-13 patients per day in the emergency department or medical floor setting where she does psychiatric assessments and helps to determine the least restrictive and most appropriate level of care for each patient. She also conducts phone consultations with hospital staff to make recommendations regarding orders or disposition.

Dr. Kawadry is well-liked at all of the sites where she works. “She is extremely flexible, responsive and always goes the extra mile,” said InSight scheduler Nicole Prince. “She is great to work with and an even greater person!”

When it comes to clinical care, Dr. Kawadry believes that being a “chameleon” is the most important thing for establishing a provider-partner relationship. “With this line of work, we encounter so many different types of patients in so many different settings,” said Dr. Kawadry. “I think that it is important to always stay true to yourself as a person and as a physician, but at the same time tailor your interview and your demeanor based on the specific patient and setting that is at hand.”

With this honor comes a prize towards attending a professional development conference with InSight and additional public recognition.

“The whole experience of working for InSight has been just wonderful thus far, and I am very grateful,” said Dr. Kawadry. “Receiving this award was certainly a very humbling and rewarding experience.”