The world of psychiatric practice is constantly changing as technology continues to evolve. With every innovation come numerous opportunities for practitioners to provide quality diagnostic and treatment procedures.
Despite the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, the field psychiatric continues to undergo major shifts that will have a significant impact on discussions on mental health. Even if you are not an expert in the field, you will find such developments interesting if not exciting.
So, what’s new in psychiatry? We rounded up a few important developments you ought to know:
The Rise of Digital Mental Health
Prior to Covid-19, digital mental health was already the talk of the town. Basically, it involves providing patients a convenient way to set appointments and undergo diagnostic procedures without the need of a physical visit to a clinic. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in the demand for digital mental health using contactless approaches like telehealth. This, in turn, will prompt investments in developing the tools and skills needed to harness digital channels for delivering quality mental health services.
A paper from the Harvard Medical School’s Division of Digital Psychiatry emphasizes the need for psychiatric clinics and practitioners to use the right tools properly in preparation for the “potential mental health fallout of the current crisis.” If anything, the pandemic has accelerated the shift towards making mental health services readily accessible to patients.
For one, Mid Cities Psychiatry has recently established a new location for providing telehealth and telepsychiatry services to patients in Hillsboro, TX. With this expansion, Mid Cities Psychiatry aims to make its services accessible to a wider audience in the midst of the pandemic’s effects on mental health.
Focus on Collaborative Mental Healthcare Intensifies
Collaborative care involves providing quality mental health interventions to patients undergoing primary care. The concept is nothing new, but it does open new doors towards the enhancement of existing tools and methods. Not only is it resource-efficient, but adopting a collaborative care model helps raise the standards for how primary care providers screen patients for mental health conditions and improve overall outcomes.
Sure enough, collaborative care is a holistic approach in maintaining cohesive workflows and processes to ensure quality outcomes. In this time of pandemic, there is a greater need for primary care providers to work closely with mental health providers in delivering personalized and evidence-based methods across different populations. Indeed, the American Psychiatric Association notes that a collaborative care model allows institutions to improve clinical outcomes by addressing both the physical and mental needs of patients, thereby reducing costs and improving clinical outcomes.
With the Covid-19 pandemic in the background, hospitals may invest more in terms of equipment and training in a bid to bolster their capacity in providing holistic care to patients.
While the current pandemic was not able to introduce innovations in psychiatry, it did help practitioners highlight existing trends and underscored the need to prepare institutions for the shift to digital means.
At any rate, the world of psychiatry will continue to evolve and Mid Cities Psychiatry is keeping tabs on new developments as they go.
Learn more about how we use new technology to provide holistic care to our patients. Give us a call today!
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