TELEPSYCHIATRY:
Bridging the Distance between
Patients and Mental Health Care
The entire state of Arizona is a federally designated “Mental Health Care Health
Professional Shortage Area.” The Arizona Telemedicine Program has succeeded in
bridging the distance between patients in rural areas and the psychiatrists and other
professionals from whom they receive psychotherapy and other mental health care.
And, as one psychiatrist explains, telemedicine is a valuable asset even when patient
and provider are both based in Phoenix – the nation’s sixth-largest city.
Sara Gibson, MD, is a
pioneer. A
psychiatrist
with Northern
Arizona
Regional
Behavioral
Health Authority
(NARBHA)
in Flagstaff,
Dr. Gibson
became the
first in Arizona to practice psychiatry via
telemedicine.
Dr. Gibson had just returned to work
from maternity leave. “I was covering
Apache County, on the New Mexico
border, where there are only two towns,
St. Johns and Springerville,” she recalls.
“Travel is always an issue – and it was
even more so after the birth of my son.
My husband is a physician who’s on
call a lot. And so NARBHA approached
me and said, ‘This is totally new for us,
would you be willing to pilot this?’”
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While other psychiatrists have resisted
the option of seeing patients via
videoconference, “that was a barrier
I didn’t have,” Dr. Gibson says. “I was
enthusiastic and willing to make it work.
“It’s still about getting the care to the
patients, and sometimes that means
trying different things. And this way, I
can see two patients in the time it takes
to drive three hours round-trip. And it
dramatically increases compliance with
appointments if you can be seen in your
own community.”
Since Dr. Gibson first saw patients via
video in 1996, NARBHA’s telepsychiatry
network has hosted more than 120,000
doctor-patient sessions throughout
northern Arizona.
Dr. Gibson has found telepsychiatry to
work well for children age 4 and older.
“Kids are just really comfortable with
technology in a way their parents may not
be,” she says. “I have a little stuffed toy
Eeyore that I use to get their attention.
And they play with me. They hide under
the desk. I can follow them around the
room with my camera and see all I need
to see. I can zoom in, zoom out, and run
around the room with them.”
Dr. Gibson also has found that adults
who have been abused or traumatized
are often more comfortable with
telemedicine than with face-to-face
sessions.
“I really believe that a telemedicine
evaluation is equivalent to face-to-face,”
Dr. Gibson says. “I don’t feel like I’m
making compromises at all. I feel like I’m
doing what’s best for the people I serve.”
“Telemedicine
dramatically increases
compliance with
appointments if you
can be seen in your
own community.”
Sara Gibson, MD