What is Tele-Psychiatry?

Telemedicine and Tele-Psychiatry are not new concepts, they have been around since the 1990's. As technology continues to improve, providers and patients have continued harnessing the power of technology to assist with the much-needed access to psychiatric services throughout Wisconsin. In the world of psychiatric prescribing providers, tele-psychiatry is being used with greater frequency to treat both local and rural populations of people.

Alay Health Team, located in Waukesha County in Pewaukee, Wisconsin has combined the latest technologies with psychiatric prescribing providers as a means of increasing access to regular and reliable mental health care for Wisconsinites who so desperately need these services.

Here's how it works: psychiatric prescribing providers may conduct evaluations, medication checks, and therapy sessions from a laptop or computer at home, at an office, or even at a hospital. Via tele-psychiatry, the providers are able to see patients in hospitals, community mental health clinics, college campuses, skilled nursing facilities, health care offices, and even at home, for certain psychiatric-mental health concerns.

Secure, HIPPA compliant, telehealth software is used for video conferencing. If the diagnosis of the psychiatric condition affords a double tele-psych option, the patient and the prescribing provider may 'see' each other on their own devices, such as a smart phones, tablets, computers, or laptops, each from their own location.

Telepsychiatry improves access and outcomes not only for rural populations, but also for those individuals who do not have the time to travel back and forth to a provider's office.

Alay Health Team proudly offers increased access to mental health care services for those needing the specialty services of a psychiatric prescribing provider. Additionally, Alay Health Team offers a dual tele-psychiatry treatment option for patients in surrounding communities, granted they are assessed as appropriate for treatment at a distance by one of our clinicians.