The benefits of Telepsychiatry

[Rafterman]

I just checked into virtual visits that my insurance covers and it seems like they cover most everything except they won't prescribe benzos, so there goes that option. I wish my current in person psychiatrist would just Skype with me.

Hey Naomi. Are you saying that the insurance company is the problem because they refuse to cover any tele-medicine provider that prescribes benzo's, or that you are having trouble finding a tele provider who will prescribe them? If its the latter, don't give up. Places that still won't prescribe benzo's are going to find themselves being in the minority very soon. I think that you may have access to several different places that are doing tele-medicine because almost every hospital is now set up for it and local docs are jumping on the bandwagon, one by one. My primary, who runs a very old fashioned practice, just came on board. The federal government is actually pushing it right now. It's requesting that all practices that are operating as ACO's (a form of managed care) make tele-medicine available to their patients. And if it is the insurance company that is the problem, remember that some of the tele places are only charging $35 per visit and will prescribe benzo's. There is the option to pay that out of pocket and forget the insurance company. It may be worth it if you can snag a script for benzo's out of the appointment. I know that it tricky to find out if a tele practice will script for benzo's. You don't want to show what they might see as "drug seeking behavior". Word of mouth is better, but it takes a lot of asking around to people you know, particularly if they work in the medical field. Let me know how you end up doing with this. Thanks.  RM