The Benefits of Telemental Health and Building Rapport Virtually

Providing a virtual behavioral health solution for your patients can offer many benefits to your organization. Telehealth provides access to many treatment techniques that translate well to a virtual platform and treat a broad range of speciality mental health conditions.

Keep reading to learn the benefits of telehealth for specific populations, how providers build rapport virtually, and different ways providers are using telehealth to increase engagement during appointments.

Table of Contents
The unique benefits of telemental health
How to build rapport through telepsychiatry
How providers facilitate specialty care remotely
Where Iris Telehealth fits in

The unique benefits of telemental health

Because of telehealth’s expansive reach into communities with few providers, patients have access to specialty treatment and care they otherwise wouldn’t be able to access.

Let’s take a look at three other unique benefits of telehealth for mental health care:

  1. Condition-specific treatment: Providing a virtual option for care delivery, either in your clinic or from a patient’s home, can open up care to people who may experience nervousness traveling, patients with agoraphobia, or someone with general anxiety about meeting a new person in a new place. Allowing someone to take their appointment from a place where they’re familiar can help them feel more comfortable and assist in establishing rapport. Telehealth can also help patients with trauma feel more comfortable processing and disclosing information.
  2. Increased privacy for patients: Meeting in a private location can help patients feel more comfortable and less worried about running into people they know in the waiting room or their providers in the community. This great sense of privacy can help patients feel more comfortable and allow them to engage and feel more at ease during their sessions.
  3. Traditional psychotherapy capabilities: For the traditional therapeutic encounters that happen within the office setting, telehealth providers can conduct them just as well via telepsychiatry as they would in person. Delivering remote care isn’t a barrier to establishing therapeutic rapport, providing medication management, or providing traditional psychotherapies.

When considering implementing a virtual behavioral health solution, it’s important to note that the typical diagnoses that translate well to telehealth are with patients with who you can easily engage individually or as a family system.

How to build rapport through telepsychiatry

Building rapport with patients is essential to implementing a virtual behavioral health solution. Even though society has primarily adjusted to telehealth during the pandemic, it’s important not to assume that patients have engaged with telehealth before or prefer telehealth over in-person.

To help determine how a patient feels about telehealth, you can check in with them, ask how they feel, and learn whether or not telehealth is their first choice. You can also ask them what they think are the negatives and positives about the platform. Sometimes, the patient might decide they want to do in-person care. Regardless of their preference, it’s essential to be open and honest to understand how the patient feels.

Another critical piece of building rapport is educating the patient on the parameters of a virtual appointment. For example, even though the appointment is not being held in an office setting, the patient should still be in a secure place and communicate their location to the provider. Some patients may have questions about where the provider is located and whether or not their door is shut. Transparency is important, especially since the patient and provider can’t see each other’s space.

How providers facilitate specialty care remotely

Telehealth is the great connector between people and the specialty care they need. This platform opens up the pool of providers with specialty expertise patients otherwise wouldn’t be able to access. Without specialty care, patients may experience delayed and ineffective treatment, the risk of worsening symptoms, and the need for a higher level of care. Accessing specialty care remotely allows patients to get the right care and make the treatment gains they need to feel better.

Therapists leverage telehealth creatively to help engage patients and provide their needed treatment. For example, some providers working with children will draw with the patient, play games, and have show and tells. Therapists will also provide homework and worksheets.

One of our LCSWs here at Iris Telehealth, Nicole Bradbury, spoke about her experience providing care virtually to her patients:

“There are a lot of different benefits to telepsychiatry. For one, I love finding new ways to engage with the kids. I’ve found websites where I can interact with them virtually, like “Let’s play Uno and talk about feelings!” It’s fun to find new ways to explore engaging with the children, especially the younger ones.”

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

Our team of psychiatrists, PMHNPs, and LCSWs, work with your care team to provide holistic, specialty care to your population. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help reach more people in your community with specialty care, contact us today.

How to Find the Best Telemental Health Provider for Your Organization

Quick links
Key considerations for recruiting mental health professionals
How to determine the right provider type for your behavioral health program
Resources to assist with recruiting mental health professionals
Next steps for staffing your behavioral health program

Investing in virtual behavioral health connects your patients with specialists who can provide effective care while increasing access and allowing on-site providers to practice at the top of their licenses.

Keep reading to learn more about the different provider types available in a remote setting and how to recruit psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. You’ll also learn how to find the best fit for your population, organization, and care team.

Key considerations for recruiting mental health professionals

Before you get started with behavioral health staffing, there are a few questions to consider. First, do you have the patient volume to support a telehealth provider? Next, how will your population respond to telehealth?

If the volume of patients is there, and you think your population would respond well, you’ll want to consider what qualities to look for in your ideal telehealth provider.

It’s important to note that whatever qualities you look for in an on-site provider, you’ll also want in a remote provider. The only difference between in-person and remote is the variation in workflows – like the way your provider will integrate into your electronic medical records (EMR) and care team.

Here are a few qualities we think make an exceptional telehealth provider:

  • Self-starter
  • Flexible
  • Tech-savvy
  • Self-sufficient
  • Independent
  • Open communicator

An essential component in finding the right clinician type for your population is partnering with an organization that facilitates provider-matching services. As part of the provider matching process, you’ll get to do a meet and greet with your potential provider to ensure they’re a good match for your organization.

This process helps you get a good feel for how the provider presents over the computer, if they project well, and how they handle technology. All these things directly relate to how they might present to a patient.

How to determine the right provider type for your behavioral health program

Here at Iris Telehealth, we work with several provider types, including psychiatrists, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNPs), and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs). These providers help deliver telepsychiatry and teletherapy services to healthcare organizations all over the country.

But, how do you know which provider is best for your patients? Let’s take a look at some of the unique benefits and differentiators between these particular provider types:

  • Psychiatrists: There’s a high demand for psychaitrists because of their great depth of experience and their ability to serve as an excellent resource for mentoring care teams. Additionally, because of their knowledge and experience, patients have great confidence in MDs. On the organizational side, MDs often require more extensive support staff to help with appointment scheduling and helping patients get into their calls.
  • PMHNPs: PMHNPs are often self-sufficient and flexible. Once a PMHNP is certified, they can practice across the patient lifespan, allowing them to treat children, adolescents, adults and geriatric populations. PMHNPs also require less support staff to facilitate daily scheduling and getting patients into their calls. They carry a great depth of experience, are equipped with a wide range of specialties, and are fantastic at problem-solving and filling in where needed.
  • LCSWs: LCSWs are self-starters who think outside the box, and are excellent at helping the remote work process run smoothly. They’re excellent resources for helping out with other projects at the clinic. Additionally, they work with case managers and the rest of the care team to talk big picture for patients and the rest of the clinic. Some LCSWs are also trained in specialty techniques like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), solution-focused therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT),crisis intervention model, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

Resources to assist with recruiting mental health professionals

Every provider offers something unique to patient care, and are a great resource to any team. To get a deeper understanding of what each of these providers can bring to the table, be sure to check out the following resources:

Next steps for staffing your behavioral health program

Find the right provider type for your organization by working with an experienced telehealth provider. At Iris, our hiring process is in-depth, and we put an extensive amount of time into interviewing and recruiting. If someone makes it through our many levels of interviews, you can trust they’re a quality candidate.

Want to learn what you can do to get started? Contact us today to jumpstart your provider search and find an experienced, quality clinician your patients and care team will love!

Why Child Psychiatrist Dr. Manoela Denman Believes Telepsychiatry is the Future of Mental Health Care

Iris clinicians are at the heart of what makes our organization such a special place to work. That’s why we’re turning the spotlight on the amazing work they’re doing every day. This month, we’re sitting down to talk with once of our incredible child psychiatrists, Dr. Manoela Denman.

Q. What does a typical day as an Iris Telehealth provider look like for you?

A: My clinic starts a little later in the day because I work on the west coast and live in Texas. I can wake up in the morning and go to the gym, work out, come home, shower, and then start my day, which I think is the best thing ever for quality of life. I see about 10-12 patients a day. Depending on my clinic, I have a lunch break that is a little bit longer, which is also good. I get done at the end of the afternoon like most people, and then I enjoy time with my family.

Q. How do you foster connection with patients virtually?

A: That can be challenging, especially as a child psychiatrist working with kids. You try to get to know them better, ask questions about what they enjoy doing and how they are doing, and some patients are more comfortable with a camera. Some other patients are very uncomfortable, so it takes a little time to get them to be able to speak with us and open up. But usually, in most cases, we’re able to connect pretty well.

Q. As a healthcare professional, how do you manage work-life balance?

A: I get to work out early in the morning, which is very rewarding. I get to spend time with my family, and working from home really allows me to do so much more than when I had to drive to the clinic and spend the entire day there. That’s what made me stay with Iris and continue working via telemedicine – I just completed four years with Iris. I really enjoy having all this flexibility and ability to spend time with family and get everything I need to get done during my day and still work an eight-hour shift. That is definitely a good thing.

Q. What are your biggest learnings from your time at Iris?

A: One of the things that I had to learn was how to work from home on my own. Even though I’m interacting with people over the computer or the phone, one of the things you kind of lose from working remotely is the interaction with others at the office. You have to make sure you maintain a connection with the staff. Although you’re far from them, it’s important to maintain that connection by chatting here and there and asking about their lives. It’s also important to maintain your social relationships outside of work.

Q. What is the most rewarding part of your job?

A: The most rewarding thing about being a child psychiatrist is helping people early on in life and helping change their trajectory so they don’t have to struggle with depression for years and years and get treatment later on. Sometimes there are experiences that they’re going to lose or miss. However, by helping them at an earlier age, we’re able to make sure that they can still finish school, go to prom, enjoy things, play the sports they want to play, and be more successful adults.

Q. What do you love about working with Iris?

A: One of the things I really enjoy about Iris is the way they treat their providers. One of the reasons I ended up signing with Iris was a very small gift I received. I was interviewing with different companies and had a pretty good offer from another company. I was thinking about working with them. But after my interaction with Adam, who was the VP at the time, I changed my mind. We talked very briefly about the things I like to watch, and at that time, I was really into “Better Call Saul.” Although I was not even going to stay with Iris, Adam Hemmen sent me this little gift, and I still have it here on my desk. I thought it was the cutest thing.

That’s what Iris is, always making sure they keep us in mind, sending us small gifts at Christmas or other times. It’s not really about how much it costs, but that they’re remembering and treating us nicely and making sure that we’re happy working here. That’s really, really important.

Q. Why do you think telepsychiatry is important to the future of mental healthcare?

A: In the last four years of working with telepsychiatrists, I realized that there are not many psychiatrists, especially in smaller areas or towns. Telepsychiatry can make sure that people anywhere can get help. That’s very, very important. Of course, meeting somebody in person is amazing, and it’s a different connection, but it’s not possible. We don’t have that many psychiatrists, and we don’t have psychiatrists everywhere. Through telepsychiatry, we’re able to ensure that if you need help and are interested in getting help, you’re going to be able to get it.

At Iris, we believe our providers should be respected, valued, and applauded for the work they do, and we couldn’t be more proud to say, “thank you” to our very own Dr. Manoela Denman. If you’d like to learn more about working for Iris Telehealth, contact us today.

Mental Health in the Black Community: Ways to Increase Care and Access

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:

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.

The Staying Power of Telehealth

Quick links
Telehealth bridges care gaps
Telemedicine use among Americans
Rules and regulations related to telehealth
Telehealth satisfaction by numbers
How Iris Telehealth can help

During the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, many providers, organizations, and patients turned to telehealth as a way to deliver and receive mental health services. In fact, by 2022, more than 1 in 5 Americans were using telehealth to receive care.

But is telehealth here to stay for the long haul? We think so. Telehealth has become the new normal and will continue to impact the behavioral health space with its ability to provide effective, quality care and create greater access for those who need mental health treatment. Keep reading to learn about the impact of telehealth, new rules and regulations making telehealth available to more people, and how telehealth has positioned itself as a mainstay in healthcare.

Telehealth bridges care gaps

One of the central reasons we believe telehealth is here to stay is because of its ability to improve access to care for people facing transportation and financial challenges or those encountering obstacles related to stigma and race. Expanded access is especially impactful for patients living in rural areas as telehealth allows them to connect with high-quality care even if there’s not a provider living in their geographical region. For those from different cultural backgrounds, telehealth can reduce discomfort and increase understanding of cultural nuances.

Telehealth enables organizations to draw from a large provider pool, allowing patients to connect with providers who address specialized needs, speak the same language, or have similar cultural experiences. This connection through telehealth offers a better understanding between the patient and provider, leading to better health outcomes.

Telemedicine use among Americans

Another positive sign of telehealth’s staying power is recent data on usage and the benefits it brings to specific populations. No matter what type of provider and where individuals are located, telepsychiatry meets Americans right where they are.

Patient populations who stand to benefit the most from telehealth include:

  • Older adults: Many older adults experience barriers to access, have unnoticed behavioral health conditions, or other medical conditions that might need attention on top of their mental health. Among adults aged 50-80, telehealth usage jumped from 4% in May 2019 to 26% in June 2020.
  • LGBTQIA+: LBGTQIA+ adults and youth can be impacted by discrimination in healthcare settings. The offering of remote care delivery can help them receive non-discriminatory care from a safe location. Telehealth offers privacy and security for members of the LGBTQIA+ community who might be faced with stigma. With 60% of LGBTQIA+ youth reporting that they wanted to receive mental health care in 2020, telehealth can be one solution to ensure they receive the care and support they need.
  • Rural Americans: Rural Americans can face stigma as well, especially when there can be a lack of anonymity in their communities. With one-third of Americans worrying about others judging them for seeking mental health treatment, telepsychiatry offers an opportunity for rural communities to receive the same level of care as a metropolitan area without the stigma involved.
  • Mothers: According to a recent survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), 60% of women had telemedicine visits in the past two years. Women are more likely to use telehealth in a post-COVID world. The convenience of virtual care can be beneficial for women who are caregivers, or for those who reside in a health professional shortage area (HPSA).

Recently, telehealth has been recognized at a policy level – underscoring how crucial this platform is to people’s well-being. After COVID-19 started impacting communities across the country, telehealth restrictions loosened. Millions of patients could meet with their healthcare providers via a smartphone or another digital device. And this level of access has continued.

New bills from the executive branch could point to telehealth usage expanding. The latest Omnibus Bill that President Biden recently signed will put at least $10 billion into behavioral health in 2023. The bill will extend telehealth flexibilities for Medicare beneficiaries, buprenorphine deregulation, and put more money towards expanding workforce development programs in the behavioral health space.

With the healthcare landscape changing at a policy level in a post-pandemic world, the future of telehealth is likely to create impactful change in access and delivery of healthcare.

Telehealth satisfaction by numbers

By the numbers, patients and providers are widely satisfied with the benefits and convenience that telehealth delivers. Here are a few key ways telehealth is making an impact:

  • Patient satisfaction: One of the largest benefits of telepsychiatry is patient satisfaction and experience. A new study about patient satisfaction showed that 63% of patients had their medical and social needs met by their providers over telehealth. These results indicate that patients are satisfied with the care they receive when using telehealth.
  • Convenience: Another survey conducted by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) says that Americans value the convenience associated with telehealth. The results noted that 69% of Americans prefer telehealth services over in-person care for convenience.
  • Provider satisfaction: Telehealth offers excellent value to providers. The American Medical Association (AMA) states that providers have enjoyed using telehealth, as 85% of providers agreed that it increased the timeliness of care, and 70% were even motivated to increase telehealth use for their patients.
  • Accessibility: Telehealth serves as a bridge between patients and providers. According to a study conducted by McKinsey & Company, providers have been seeing 50 to 175 times more patients via telehealth than before the pandemic. More providers using telehealth means more patients can be seen. Telehealth benefits both patients and providers by allowing more patients to get through the door without missing their appointments.
  • Health outcomes: Telehealth opens communication between providers and patients, leading to better health outcomes. This communication can help patients take better care of themselves and be more proactive with their health. Medical Economics shares that 93% of patients would use telemedicine to manage prescriptions and 91% of patients would use telemedicine to adhere to appointments.

How Iris Telehealth can help

Iris Telehealth can help you meet your organization’s behavioral health goals by making the implementation of a telepsychiatry solution as easy as possible. We believe integral to the future of behavioral health, offering many benefits for your organization, patients, and clinicians. Contact us today to see how our telepsychiatry services can help your team provide high-quality care for your patients.

Serena Loh, PMHNP, Shares What She Loves About Working in Telepsychiatry

Iris clinicians are at the heart of what makes our organization such a special place to work. That’s why we’re turning the spotlight on the amazing work they’re doing every day. This month, we’re sitting down to talk with Serena Loh, PMHNP.

Q. How did you find Iris and decide you wanted to be an Iris provider?

A: I found out about Iris through Indeed, where I was looking for telepsychiatry jobs. There was a job posting for a Mandarin-speaking Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). I signed up for that, and I got connected to Erin Schepmann.

Q. What does a typical day as an Iris Telehealth provider look like for you?

A: I work remotely from my home in Indiana and see patients at the Herald Christian Health Center in California. There’s a time difference of three hours, and I start my day at 11:30 a.m. and work until 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. The day involves seeing patients for initial evaluations, which are one hour, and then follow-up sessions are 20-30 minutes. I do the scheduling myself because it’s the easiest when I can book the next appointment with the patient right there with me. It can be hard for the scheduler to get a hold of the patients after their appointment.

It’s very flexible for the amount of time I can see the patients. I work eight hours a day and will have some admin time and a little lunch break. I work very closely with my case manager assistant, Nicole Song. If I have any issues during the day, I’ll send her text messages, and she’ll help me coordinate, which is very helpful. I don’t feel like I’m working alone.

Q. How do you foster connection with patients virtually?

A: For a virtual session, I will explain what the session entails and let them know roughly how much time it takes. On the initial evaluation, I’ll set expectations for no-shows and let them know if there are any questions I ask them that are too personal or too sensitive to be talked about at the first session, they can tell me to skip it, and it’s totally fine. I also let them know if they’re thirsty, they’re welcome to drink water. That can put them at ease. Virtually, most patients will be sitting still, but some patients do different things during the session, which sometimes happens due to their situation. If they’re driving, I’ll ask them if they’ll be able to park soon, let them know we can hold on, or re-schedule if they need.

However, because I work with the low-income bracket in California, some patients don’t always have access to video calls on their phone or wifi capabilities, so sometimes I talk to them over the phone with the company’s app for calling. There is also a clinic within the site where they can go for video calls with me if they can get there.

Q. As a healthcare professional, how do you manage work-life balance?

A: Work-life balance is very important. For me, I try to do something I enjoy every day. Such as reading, exercising, or spending time with my loved ones. I think it’s important to have that self-care time and to set boundaries with checking emails and checking work stuff. On off days, I have to really set a physical, emotional, and mental limit on those.

Q. What are your biggest learnings from your time at Iris?

A: I’ve been learning a lot from my two medical collaborators Dr. Margery Johnson and Dr. Regina Bahten. They’re both very instrumental to my clinical skills and growth as they supervise my work. I learn a lot from them, especially for complex cases. I learn about different ways of treatment and different approaches for conditions such as ADHD.

Q. What is the most rewarding part of your job?

A: I think the most rewarding part of my job is having a good relationship with my clinical colleagues at Herald Christian Health Center. I’m very thankful that the health center is a perfect fit for me. And I enjoy working with them a lot because we know there’s a limit to how much we can help patients sometimes. Our role is to be a support and to help them as much as we can with treatment. However, at the end of the day, I feel like I’m part of a team working together for the patient, there’s a great sense of satisfaction – knowing that we all have the same goals, vision, and values.

Q. What do you love about working with Iris?

A: Iris is a very nice company to work for. I remember before I even joined Iris, they sent me a Christmas package, and I was so surprised. And then they sent me a birthday cake and a Christmas present last year. During my first month at Iris, my manager Melissa Kennedy sent me a gift basket of goodies – that’s a lot of goodies from Iris!

Iris is also very responsive to our needs and helps with any issues.

Q. Why do you think telepsychiatry is important to the future of mental healthcare?

A: During the COVID-19 pandemic, facilities shut down, and people didn’t like to travel for fear of catching the virus. Telepsychiatry opens up many options for people who are home-bound, do not have a vehicle, or have difficulty getting transportation to a facility. It opens up access to providers because some places have a shortage of providers, and the wait time is very long, like three to four months. But if you have telepsychiatry, the pool is widened to all over the U.S., as long as the provider is licensed in that state.

Telepsychiatry also gives the patient a shorter waiting time. And, evidence has shown that telepsychiatry is just as effective as in-person psychiatry.

At Iris, we believe our providers should be respected, valued, and applauded for the work they do, and we couldn’t be more proud to say, “thank you” to our very own Serena Loh. If you’d like to learn more about working for Iris Telehealth, contact us today.

Telepsychiatry Services in Action: Meet our CAE Team!

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How CAEs amplify telepsychiatry services with top-notch support
Dedicated support to hospitals and community organizations
Partner spotlight
Get to know Iris better

Working with a supportive and collaborative organization is vital to long-term success and innovation. At Iris Telehealth, our team of Clinical Alignment Executives (CAEs) are crucial to helping create successful, long-term partnerships that help healthcare organizations make the most out of their behavioral health programs and ensure patients get the care they need. This team helps organizations deliver on their behavioral health strategy and enables program growth.

We can’t wait for you to learn more about their work and how they’re helping healthcare organizations change lives daily with telemental health services.

How CAEs amplify telepsychiatry services with top-notch support

So, who are the CAEs? The Iris CAEs serve as the primary point of contact for our partners and help ensure they continually experience a superior level of support that enables them to deliver the best care possible to their patient population. To make this support possible, our CAEs get to know who’s who within the organization’s team, help expand partnerships, and find new ways to deliver value.

To keep tabs on the value they’re delivering, our CAEs work closely with our partner organizations to measure success collaboratively. The insights from this collaboration can also help show us if a metric is not trending in the right direction and allows us to intervene early and provide additional support.

Across our partnerships with healthcare organizations, both big and small, our CAEs work in tandem to ensure our partners have what they need to continue to grow and do what they do best – care for patients.

Want to see what our partnerships look like in action? Check out our work with Geisinger Health!

Dedicated support to hospitals and community organizations

On a day-to-day basis, Iris CAEs engage in regular touchpoints with key stakeholders, learning about upcoming initiatives and figuring out what they can do to support the organization’s behavioral health needs further.

Here are a few other key benefits CAEs bring to the table:

  • Big picture strategy: Iris CAEs have conversations with our partners around key objectives and potential gaps in their behavioral health model. They also check to see if there are any patient populations they aren’t reaching with their current care services. If gaps are determined, our CAEs work to understand if there are things we can do to help bridge and support.
  • Leveraging KPIs, data, and metrics: We’re always looking at how we’re performing to ensure we’re hitting our expectations and the expectations of our partners. Our CAEs use data to tell the story of our service lines’ successes, guide partner discussions, and showcase our value.
  • Alignment: One of the benefits of having a dedicated support team is streamlined communication. At Iris, key stakeholders always know who to reach out to if they need support. Additionally, because we work with many different organizations, we can share what has and hasn’t worked well for other partners and share internal resources and relevant tips. We also connect partners within the same area who are most likely encounter similar types of challenges to share advice and best practices.
  • Financial stewards: We understand the financial landscape of our partners and make sure we’re good financial stewards for them. We also ensure our providers are within their contract rate ranges – and, we work to secure the most qualified and best candidates for the partner at the right price point.

Partner spotlight

Here’s a look at just some of the ways our teams have been able to effectively support our Iris Telehealth partners:

“We’ve really been pleased with Iris Telehealth just because of the open communication and the regular meetings. I can’t say that we have those being held within the other groups that we get other physicians or NPs from so we really appreciate that.”

– Clinical Director at Western Tidewater regarding monthly check-in meetings

“If I had to recommend a direction to get a psychiatric provider today, I would say we need to work with Iris. I truly appreciate when people are skilled at what they’re doing, do it quickly, do it well, and are so responsive.”

– Clinical Director at Middle Peninsula reflecting on the match-implementation process

“This summer I had no idea how our patients were going to get seen. We were in bad straits and now I am able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. People are getting served, they’re getting through our door. Without our Iris team we wouldn’t even be able to get them in the door.”

– Clinical Director at AuSable Valley on creating greater access to care through telepsychiatry services

Get to know Iris better

If you’d like to learn more about how our CAEs can help support your organization, contact us today! Our CAEs are actively working to help community organizations and hospitals and health systems meet the needs of the patients in communities just like yours.

How Does Telehealth Work for Mental Health Care?

Quick links
Telemental health services solve common challenges
How telemental health works for organizations
How telehealth works for certain conditions and populations
How Iris can help

If you’re looking to implement telehealth services into your organization, you might wonder, “how does telehealth work?” We’ve broken down all the need-to-know information – starting with the definition of telemental health services.

Telemental health services are a growing and effective way to provide behavioral health care to people living in rural and underserved communities and hospitals experiencing a high influx of patients seeking behavioral health care. Telemental health services can take place on-site at an organization’s clinic or virtually from the patient’s home. Additionally, researchers say that within a few years, there will be a shortage and overextension of psychiatrists and other behavioral health workers, positioning telehealth as an excellent way to treat underserved populations and bridge care gaps.

But how does telehealth work for mental health care? Keep reading to learn about the benefits of telehealth, what telepsychiatry looks like in practice, and how it can be an invaluable resource for communities and providers alike.

Telemental health services solve common challenges

With an increased demand for specialty mental health treatment and a lack of resources to meet these needs, providing patients with access to high-quality psychiatric care through a virtual visit can help solve these common challenges. Telemental health can benefit providers as well, giving them specialists to lean on when working with patients with behavioral health needs.

Let’s take a closer look at a few of the benefits for patients and providers.

Patient satisfaction: In a study by the American Medical Association (AMA), 79% of patients were satisfied with the care they received during their last telehealth visit. The option of having telehealth at your organization means patients can take their sessions from the comfort of their home or on-site at your organization, leading to greater patient satisfaction. Utilizing telehealth services can decrease no-show rates and ultimately increase access for people who experience conditions that make it hard for them to receive the care they need. Virtual visits also combat challenges related to long commute times, lack of transportation, and taking time off work.

Provider satisfaction: Provider satisfaction is also important to organizations that want to make sure their clinicians love their work. By incorporating virtual providers into your team, you can support your on-site clinicians with mental health specialists, enabling them to better serve their patients. Once integrated, remote providers feel like an extension of your on-site team and help create a better patient experience for your community.

How telemental health works for organizations

One of the benefits of bringing telemental health providers onto your team is consistency. With telemental health, there is no difference in the level of care, length of treatment, or how a provider conducts their appointment between a virtual and on-site appointment.

Whether you’re seeing your patients on-site or from their homes, here are a few steps you can take to ensure telehealth will work for your organization:

  • Enable flexible access to virtual care: When implementing telemental health into your community organization, your patients have the option to receive their care on-site or take their appointments from home. When they are on-site, there is a video set up allowing them to connect with their remote provider. When a patient is seen from home, providers use a platform that directly connects them to the patient.
  • Make sure your telehealth partner can integrate into your electronic medical record (EMR): Telehealth vendors should be able to seamlessly integrate into your systems and workflows. That’s why at Iris, we’re technology neutral and work with whatever platform an organization is using. 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 and can help reduce the frustration that comes with technology. (Want to learn more about EMRs and telepsychiatry? Check out our blog for all the details.)
  • Work in collaborative care teams: Telepsychiatry can elevate the integrated care model and empower collaboration between on-site and remote providers. For instance, over a virtual appointment, it’s difficult to tell with certainty if a patient has an injury or any physical discomforts. An on-site provider can identify these things and relay the information to the remote provider. The partnership between both providers allows for a better diagnosis in the long run.
  • Ensure you have a telehealth champion on-site at your organization: The biggest thing that will aid in the implementation of telehealth is to have a “telehealth champion” on-site. This champion is someone that believes in telehealth, understands it’s benefits, and can help others on-site see the benefits as well. A clinical setting with a champion helps remote providers ease into a care team leading to a more effective and seamless application of telehealth.
  • Team up with a telepsychiatry vendor that offers provider matching: The provider matching process looks at what a provider wants in a job (think culture, values, schedule) and matches it with what an organization is looking for in a mental health professional (think specialty and experience). This match-making process helps both parties attain what they want and need, increases provider satisfaction, and ensures quality of care for organizations and their patients. Working with a telepsychiatry vendor that offers provider-matching services makes it easier to find a provider who can meet your organization’s needs and fill in care gaps.

How telehealth works for certain conditions and populations

It is essential to take a close look at what your patient populations want and need. For example, if your organization provides care to rural populations or non-English speaking communities, your organization may benefit from using telepsychiatry to help connect these populations to bilingual providers from the comfort of their own homes.

While telehealth can help patients address mental health concerns broadly, let’s take a closer look at how it can assist with specific conditions:

  • Eating disorders: With a team that includes a doctor, a therapist, and a dietitian, treatment over telehealth can be an option for patients. Virtual nutrition coaching and talk therapy have contributed to addressing eating disorders. Eating disorders are increasingly prevalent among children and younger adults, and early intervention helps patients take the necessary steps to potentially avoid serious illness.
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): For those struggling with PTSD, it can be hard to make an in-person appointment, especially if they can be triggered outside the comfort of their own home. By eliminating travel for patients with PTSD and using telehealth, your organization can allow your patients to receive specialty care and more flexibility with scheduling.
  • Depression: The American Journal of Preventative Medicine says that 1 in 10 Americans reported having depression in 2020, with younger adults and adolescents having higher rates. Getting mental health care can be difficult for those with depression. Symptoms make it hard to get out of bed, get dressed, and sometimes meet face-to-face with a provider. Telehealth can offer an effective alternative for patients with depression to receive care, as it relieves many of those difficulties.
  • Anxiety: According to the National Institute of Mental Health, almost 31.1% of U.S. adults experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Diagnosing and treating patients through telehealth can be a great option. It gives them more privacy, comfort, and convenience, improving their experience. The anxiety of leaving the house, waiting in uncomfortable waiting rooms, or unfamiliar settings may help if telemental health services are available for your patients.

How Iris can help

Iris Telehealth is here as a resource for healthcare organizations that need support transitioning into telehealth. Whether your patients are accessing mental health services on-site or from their home, we’ll help ensure your community and providers are set up for success with a team committed to your organization’s vision for successful behavioral health services. Contact us today to see if our telepsychiatry services would be a good match for your organization.

The Benefits of Telepsychiatry During Provider Shortages

Quick links
Understanding the provider and patient experience
The benefits of telepsychiatry and collaborative care
Three key ways telepsychiatry is indispensable during shortages
Where Iris Telehealth fits in

America’s provider shortage continues to grow, and people across the country are feeling the strain. Between the greater demand for treatment, limited residency spots, and a decrease in stigma around mental health treatment, there’s a clear need for effective patient care and more providers. By the numbers, the behavioral health provider shortage impacts 129 million Americans, with over three-quarters of U.S. counties experiencing a severe lack of mental health prescribers or non-prescribers.

Thankfully, telepsychiatry can help healthcare organizations across the country keep up with the growing demand for mental health care. Keep reading to learn how telepsychiatry can help your organization combat the provider shortage and provide your community with the high-quality care it needs.

Understanding the provider and patient experience

Today, many providers are experiencing high levels of burnout nd loss of job satisfaction. For organizations, burnout means decreased continuity of care for their patients and more barriers to hiring quality providers. For patients, this shortage of psychiatrists equates to waiting lists and considerable time spent sitting in the emergency department (ED) waiting for help.

Let’s take a look at what each of these experiences looks like up close:

  • Providers: Provider burnout is a significant issue, affecting 78% of psychiatrists. Contributing factors to burnout may include work environment, compassion fatigue, and struggle to achieve work-life balance. At Iris Telehealth, we remove barriers like paperwork, credentialing, and licensing. That way, they can have the time, flexibility, and support to care for themselves and their patients. And when providers are healthy and happy, their patients get the high-quality care they need.
  • Patients: Patients are critically impacted by psychiatry shortages. For patients, getting care when and where they need it is crucial, and long waits can cause them to go into crisis. In fact, long wait times have led to crises in emergency departments across the U.S. With a lack of beds and providers to meet patient needs, people are spending extensive amounts of time waiting for treatment.

Telepsychiatry can help patients get the care they need when they need it. In the community space, telepsychiatry can connect patients with high-quality, experienced providers who can help them get the right care, including medication recommendations and therapy. For organizations seeking providers who can care for the needs of specific populations, this help is crucial. Telepsychiatry allows organizations to recruit top-quality providers from a wider geographic pool.

The benefits of telepsychiatry and collaborative care

There are several steps healthcare organizations can take to help compensate for the lack of providers, including implementing telepsychiatry and investing in collaborative care. Telepsychiatry delivers quality, sustainable behavioral health care to healthcare organizations while also providing best-in-class support and expertise.

Organizations are also leaning into collaborative care. In fact, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and primary care clinics are expanding their mental health offerings – investing in LCSWs, therapists, psychiatrists, and PMHNPs to embrace this model. Collaborative care is elevated by telepsychiatry and makes specialty care more accessible. Providing this level of access to those in rural areas, where finding providers can be particularly challenging, is especially important.

Telepsychiatry simplifies this process by integrating into multiple locations with one set of staff. For instance, you might have one primary care provider in an eight-county rural area. Instead of finding eight providers to go into each clinic, having one who can plug into several locations is highly beneficial.

Three key ways telepsychiatry is indispensable during shortages

Telepsychiatry is a powerful tool that connects patients with high-quality care and helps organizations expand their behavioral health programs while supporting their on-site teams. Because of these benefits, telepsychiatry has become indispensable during provider shortages.

Let’s look at three other reasons telepsychiatry stands out as a solution during the provider shortage:

  1. Telepsychiatry has an expansive reach: Telepsychiatry connects organizations with high-quality, specialty providers they wouldn’t otherwise be able to access. If an organization in rural America needs a provider who practices within a particular specialty, they can virtually bring them into their clinic or hospital and provide valuable care to underserved populations.
  2. Telepsychiatry can reduce provider burnout: Telepsychiatry is especially beneficial to providers as it cuts the commute out of their day, gives them more time and flexibility, and combats compassion fatigue. It also allows for more self-care time, lets them work with a population they wouldn’t otherwise be able to reach, and ultimately helps increase work satisfaction.
  3. Patients get the care they need when they need it: Telepsychiatry connects patients to specialty care and helps organizations avoid care gaps. It also provides the long-term sustainability patients and providers need to build relationships.

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

At Iris, we are dedicated to improving patient outcomes with exceptional behavioral health care. We match your organization with the best behavioral health providers for your community, provide the behavioral health expertise you need to optimize your program, and deliver best-in-class support to make telepsychiatry a seamless, long-term solution for your healthcare organization and your patients.

Contact us today if you’d like to implement a telepsychiatry solution into your organization.

Clinician Corner: Meet Veronica Im, LCSW

Iris clinicians are at the heart of what makes our organization such a special place to work. That’s why we’re turning the spotlight on the amazing work they’re doing every day. This month, we’re sitting down to talk with Veronica Im, an LCSW practicing in California.

Q. How did you find Iris and decide you wanted to be an Iris provider?

A: It started with the pandemic. The pandemic made me think about how I can make sure I can do my work without putting my life at risk at the same time. I was looking more into telehealth, and I noticed that with the pandemic, it had shifted. There has been a lot of new technology that helps make telehealth work.

I thought being able to do this work in the comfort of my own home made more sense for me and allowed me to do the work I wanted to do without having to put myself out or make things more stressful for me, given everything that has gone on in the last few years.

Iris was one of the telehealth companies I was interested in working for. I decided to look more into it and applied, and that’s how I got to where I am now with Iris.

Q. What does a typical day as an Iris Telehealth provider look like for you?

A: I’m primarily doing intake assessments with clients seeking any kind of mental health services, whether it be therapy, psychiatry, case management, rehabilitation, or even substance use recovery services. I am one of the first clinicians they meet with. I gather everything from information about their past mental health history to how they’re doing now. Then, I make clinical assessments based on what I think might be the most appropriate for them, and being that I’m working with a county clinic, they tend to take more severely mentally ill patients. I have to differentiate who has severe symptoms or mild to moderate symptoms. Those I feel have severe symptoms qualify for care at this clinic. If they have mild to moderate symptoms, I refer them to their health plan, primary care physician, or another avenue to get mental health services. I’m that point clinician who guides them where they need to go.

I also do individual therapy. However, that tends to be the smaller portion because most of my work is intake assessments, which take more time. The clinic sets aside three hours for assessment, and they schedule individual therapy in between. I see anywhere between four to seven clients for individual therapy every week. For intake assessment, I’ll probably see between five to 10 people, depending on the schedule.

Then another thing I do within my role is a monthly video check-in with clients in the counties that are conserved. These would be the clients living in places like a board in care or an inpatient facility. They themselves aren’t able to make decisions on their own related to their finances or their healthcare. I do monthly video check-ins to see how they’re doing if their needs are met, how they’re managing their day-to-day, and the progress they make towards independence.

Q. How do you foster connection with patients virtually?

A: A part of what helps with connection is being there to listen to what’s going on in the present moment. As much as it’s nice to have someone you can meet with in person, for me, as long as I can maintain eye contact as much as I can, ask questions about how they’re doing, and reflect back on how they’re feeling to get a sense of what’s going on has helped foster that connection with clients. It shows with the clients I’ve met over the last year.

Often these clients haven’t really been in the mental health system. They’ve never seen a therapist or had this type of interaction with anyone before. Even doing sessions on the computer, even if it’s strange for them, it’s still someone who is listening and being there for them in a way they haven’t had support before. I try to show that I’m here, even though I’m not technically there. I think the clients see that.

Q. As a healthcare professional, how do you manage work-life balance?

A: Work-life balance, at least for me, is ongoing. It’s not set in stone. Having worked with Iris over the last year, I have found that work-life balance. It’s partially why I wanted to go into telehealth. In previous positions, it’s been challenging to manage self-care and find time for myself, my family, and other people in my life. Here, that’s something I’ve been able to manage because I’m not commuting anymore or worrying about getting home at a certain hour. It gives me time to separate work and home life.

In the position I had before Iris, I was out in the field every day. I was seeing clients in their homes, which also ate into my day. I felt like shifting from seeing clients at their homes and trying to find the time to do my notes and documentation to this job where I’ve been able to meet someone over telehealth, quickly document, and not have to spend an exhausting amount of time figuring out how to fit everything in one day has helped. Iris has been good about helping me manage that so far.

Q. What is the most rewarding part of your job?

A: Other than being able to manage work-life balance, the biggest thing I’ve found rewarding is working with the clients in Tehama county. Before this job, I didn’t realize that so many rural areas of California or other parts of the state don’t have a lot of mental health services. Over the last year, I’ve learned that we are really needed in these areas. To be one of the clinicians who can help clients who have not really had mental health services before or who’ve been waiting forever to get mental health services, has been great.

Q. What do you love about working with Iris?

A: Being supported by staff has been amazing and maintaining a work-life balance. That’s what a lot of us strive for overall. I’ve found that here within Iris. I do a lot of work, and there are times when it is busy, but I don’t feel like I’m to the point of being overstressed, overworked, or burned out. There is this sense of being able to relax at the end of the day, and I don’t have to worry about all these other external factors that you would have in a job that is in person or requires you to drive. I definitely like being able to have that balance.

The staff I have worked with at Iris, for example, like David Mariano and Lauren Katz, have been really supportive in advocating for whatever I need. They check in with me once in a while to make sure that I’m continuing to be supported and that I’m happy with Iris. I appreciate that because it shows they care about the well-being of the clinicians here. There are a lot of organizations that don’t always prioritize clinicians. Iris does that, which I really enjoy.

Q. Why do you think telepsychiatry is important to the future of mental healthcare?

A: Telepsychiatry is very important to the future of mental healthcare because it’s becoming more accessible to communities that cannot get care in person. For example, many clients really want mental health services, but what prevents them from getting that care is transportation, getting to the clinics, finding an appointment, and trying to balance that. Many people out there need therapy but don’t have the time to go somewhere for a therapy appointment. Telehealth, in general, is the future. You get to meet with a clinician without having to leave the comfort of your home or having to be somewhere else.

Telehealth makes things a lot quicker and a lot more accessible. As someone who has utilized telehealth in the past, it is very beneficial because I work full time, and it can be hard to find time to sit down and talk with someone about whatever’s going on. With telehealth, at least in my experience, providers have always been flexible with the times you can meet. It makes it easier to work on what you’re going through when you’re ready or have the chance to.

Q. How does teletherapy compare to in-person care?

A: When comparing teletherapy to in-person care, there are certain differences. Of course, you have the aspect of someone being there with you in a room physically, compared to staring at someone on the screen. That’s a major difference. Outside of that, having worked in telehealth, I don’t see much of a difference because, at the end of the day, you’re still getting the same quality level of care you would receive if you met someone in person. The therapists have the same level of education and experience and can bring in their compassion and expertise through video. Outside of being physically in the room with someone, I’d say the quality of care would be the same.

Q. What advice would you give someone new to teletherapy?

A: If you’re practicing teletherapy for the first time, the most important thing is learning to make eye contact with the camera. With teletherapy, it might feel awkward at times. It’s not something that everyone’s used to until down the line. Of course, people will become more used to it, but being able to maintain that eye contact with the camera means that you’re looking at the client. Our eyes sometimes shift when we’re looking at a screen and we’re looking around. But it’s one of the things that even clients have given me advice about in the past. They’ll say, “I want to feel like you’re looking at me compared to looking down or around.”

I took that advice to heart. When I meet with clients, I always try to make sure that I’m looking at the camera even though I’m not necessarily looking at them, but I give them that warning that once in a while, I might look offscreen because I’m looking at you instead of looking at the camera. That’s my biggest advice. Otherwise, being able to practice the format of looking at a computer screen doing therapy is probably the only other advice I would give. Overall, I think most clinicians would do fine.

At Iris, we believe our providers should be respected, valued, and applauded for the work they do, and we couldn’t be more proud to say, “thank you” to our very own Veronica Im. If you’d like to learn more about working for Iris Telehealth, contact us today.