Virtual Psychiatry in 2021 in NYC – What to expect from telepsychiatry — communicating with a psychiatrist when you are not lying on their couch.DOCTOR IN THE FAMILY

Virtual Psychiatry in 2021 in NYC- What to expect from telepsychiatry — communicating with a psychiatrist when you are not lying on their couch.

Updated by Natan Schleider M.D. May 25th, 2021

 

‘Virtual psychiatry in 2021 in NYC is here to stay. The psychiatry office visit is as practical as a rotary telephone and will soon be as nostalgic as a telegraph.’ -Stated by Natan Schleider, M.D. at the onset of the COVID19 Pandemic 0f 2020.

Having practiced medicine on house calls, in hospitals, and in my office, it has become apparent that virtual psychiatry in 2021 and beyond in NYC is now the norm. Do I maintain an office in which to see patients when seeing the face to face is required–yes I do. Do most patient want to come to my office–no they don’t.

So what is virtual psychiatry? It has the same meaning as telepsychiatry which simply means, for me, communicating with a patient electronically or by audio and or video.

So is a text message saying:

PATIENT ‘Hi doc, my mood is down despite my Prozac 10 mg dose, do you think we can increase the dose?’

DOCTOR ‘Yes, you have been taking Prozac 10 mg which is a very low dose, let’s increase the dose and follow up in 1 week to see if your mood improves.’ I would argue this is a consult and there is no data I know of stating that patient care is improved when using a telemedicine platform, that is, something like Zoom with audio-visual communication.

Some patients prefer seeing their doctors in person. I am all for that–unless you have COVID19 without symptoms or vice versa. 

What about patients that need lab testing and or drug screening, how do you handle that? Good question, the answer is in part 2 of this blog.

Thanks for reading and to read similar article check this blog out: 7 Reason Why Virtual Psychiatry in New York City is here to stay

Natan Schleider MD

TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH ME PLEASE CALL OR TEXT 646-957-5444 OR  VISIT ZOCDOC