Web-based counseling -- Telepsychiatry -- is taking off

[FarCenter]

Dr. Avrim Fishkind, a psychiatrist in Houston, rarely sees any of his patients in person, and that's the way they like it.

Fishkind is part of a fast growing movement in the mental healthcare field where therapists counsel patients via inexpensive, Web-based video conferencing technology.

"We've had just over 60,000 patient encounters. To my knowledge, only six have refused to be seen via teleconferencing," he said. "When it comes to mental health issues and the difficult things you need to talk about in a crisis, a lot of patients feel it's less threatening and easier to be open and communicate via telemedicine."

Fishkind said telepsychiatry is limited only by insurance reimbursements. As more insurance companies start to reimburse for telepsychiatry treatments at the same rate as they do for in-person visits, the emerging medical field will grow exponentially.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9224091/Web_based_counseling_Telepsychiatry_is_taking_off

[Nuclear Unicorn]

1. I thought going on-line and bitching about your relationships was what

Facebook was invented for.

[FarCenter]

2. This lets you go on-line and bitch privately, one-on-one with an expert

For a fee.

Or you could use DU...

[Nuclear Unicorn]

4. "Or you could use DU..."

You rushed in where unicorns feared to tread.

[qb]

3. This could help a lot of people. Cognitive therapy is especially suited to an interactive web format

There already is a great free site here:
http://www.rebtnetwork.org/library/shf.html

[renate]

8. cool! thanks for posting that! n/t

[FSogol]

5. Hey Doc? Whenever I sneeze, I smell butter. What do you think that means?

[polly7]

6. There are so many isolated, severely-depressed people that have good intentions of

seeking therapy but often can't leave home .... I can see how this telepsychiatry really can be beneficial. I just worry about the quacks out there who will take advantage.

[zbdent]

7. Why not? Some (Republican) "doctor" diagnosed Terri Schiavo over a video, and

declared her fine ...

[southernyankeebelle]

9. I use to work for a physco. dr.. Funny thing is he could of used one himself. I think he is was

crazy.