Why econsults are answer to tackling mental health crisis
Chronic disease management often focuses on heart disease, diabetes, cancer or obesity. Mental health doesn’t often make the list, but it should.
Not only does mental health fit the definition of a chronic disease – an illness persisting for a long time or constantly recurring – but it often occurs alongside other chronic conditions, such as cancer, COPD, heart disease and substance abuse.
While access to mental health services in Tennessee have greatly expanded in the last several years, more can still be done through telehealth services, like econsults, that provide cost effective solutions to optimize patient care and increase PCP efficiency.
econsults are asynchronous, provider-to-provider communication about a patient’s condition that leverages the expertise of a physician specialist. econsults are often initiated by a PCP seeking a specialist’s expert opinion about the appropriate diagnosis or treatment for a patient.
Three significant barriers to improving mental health access and management in Tennessee standout: diagnostic resources, provider support and continuity of care – all of which telehealth directly addresses.
How to address these barriers
h Diagnostic resources: Often patients know they don’t feel well, but cannot identify the specific symptoms of mental health concerns like anxiety or depression. Instead, patients might complain of pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances or other ambiguous symptoms.
Through an econsult visit, a PCP can ask a specialist nuanced questions about these symptoms, determine a more concrete diagnosis and create a tailored treatment plan for their patient. PCPS and specialists can also connect on the available mental health resources for patients, such as crisis services, housing and homelessness services, peer recovery and more.
h Provider support: Tennessee is in dire need of a flourishing mental health workforce – an estimated 6,500 additional mental health professionals are needed. Our state ranks 44 in mental health workforce availability – making it the sixth worst in the whole country.
econsults are part of the needed supportive changes to provide better mental health care by preventing provider burnout and attracting new providers to close the supply-demand gap.
h Continuity of care: Treatment of underserved populations often starts with a PCP, rather than a specialist. But PCPS may not have the training for complex behavioral health disorders and external referrals often result in care discontinuity and the possibility that many patient referrals will languish uncompleted.
When PCPS leverage econsults, it’s an insurance policy that their patients will get the right care, with the right provider at the right time. Patients win because they get immediate help from their trusted PCPS and don’t have to expend additional time, hassle, and money for unnecessary in-person or telehealth psychiatry appointments.
econsult solutions benefit all of Tennessee
It is rare that an obvious and accessible solution benefits everyone involved, but utilizing econsults for mental health services in Tennessee is just that. Telehealth delivers significant perks to patients, providers and payers, and is readily available to deploy at any moment. After two challenging years during the COVID-19 pandemic and amid growing mental health concerns, Tennessee cannot wait a minute longer to expand care access, reduce overall care burden, support its PCPS and leverage all available resources to improve the lives of those afflicted with mental illness.
Dr. Edward Cladera is an internal medicine specialist and serves as medical director of Aristamd, a leading virtual telehealth solution that empowers primary care providers to conduct econsults to improve the patient referral process and allow greater access to timely, high-quality care.