Integrating behavioral health across all patient journeys can transform a health system and how it delivers care for its community.

As Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer at Iris Telehealth, I’ve seen first-hand the impact effective behavioral health integration can have on a health system and its patients. Whether through better clinical outcomes and access, increased revenue, or positive margins – our health system partners sustainably leverage and integrate scalable behavioral health services seamlessly across their ecosystem.

Learn how our partners are finding success by integrating behavioral health services across their health systems, what the patient journey looks like through a virtual lens, and the financial impact virtual services can have on a health system.

The tangible impact of integrating behavioral health services

Experiencing the tangible impacts of integrated behavioral health services starts by providing timely access to quality care – and making sure that care is financially sustainable.

Once the need for behavioral health care is met, health systems may experience the following benefits:

• Better access
• Better patient outcomes
• Improved financials
• Reduced total cost of care
• A patient and provider community that feels supported

Helping health systems take back control of a fragmented healthcare landscape

Today, health systems are being disaggregated by a myriad of competitors – both new and old. This trend is contributing to lower health system revenue, but also to a further fragmentation of the patient journey. At Iris, we want to help health systems take back control of this fragmentation to ensure patients are getting integrated, whole-person care.

We believe providing integrated behavioral healthcare is a critical component to patient care. The reality is – behavioral healthcare should be infused into every journey. Whether a patient just received a cancer diagnosis, is an expecting mother, or is experiencing escalating anxiety at a primary care appointment, integrating behavioral health care will drive better patient care and eliminate the need for a patient to look elsewhere to fill gaps in their care needs.

At the end of the day, our goal is to help health systems deliver on their ultimate promise of delivering whole-person, integrated care.

How to integrate virtual services across a health system

The mistake many health systems make is believing that integrating virtual care into their health system is as simple as having virtual providers available to see patients. In practice, it is much more nuanced. We believe in the concept of “integrating virtual care locally” – whereby the referring provider knows and trusts the behavioral health care team they are relying on, and the virtual team truly knows the local dynamics. This approach is really the only way to build trust and create true continuity of care.

Additionally, the care experience has to be the same whether a patient is part of an Iris program or not. That is why our entire patient journey is built with the idea of integrating into, and leveraging, the health system technology already in place. The Iris provider is integrated seamlessly into the health system and the patient journey feels no different than it would if they were seeing an in-person provider.

The financial impact of integrating behavioral health services

The financial realities of providing behavioral healthcare are undoubtedly a challenge. But, in our experience, it is possible to deliver high-quality behavioral health care and have it be financially sustainable.

We have helped health systems double their behavioral health revenue while delivering a 10% program operating margin. And, study after study shows that providing outpatient behavioral healthcare reduces the total cost of care.

How is this impact possible? It comes down to the disciplined execution of a few key tenets:

• First, ensure you’re driving top-of-license care from a true care team approach. Yes, it is essential to have psychiatrists available for high acuity patients, but from our experience, we’ve seen psychiatrists relied on too heavily for patient care than what is clinically appropriate. That is why we leverage industry-leading navigation assessments, with a true care team approach to make sure every patient is seen by their optimal provider with a tailored care plan.
• Second, be sure to optimize the operational complexities of care delivery. Patient no-show rates, provider turnover, full provider panels, and consultation with referring providers are all critical to ensuring the program is sustainable.
• Finally, revenue cycle optimization is critical. Many health systems are not getting paid optimally for the care they provide and that has to change. Revenue cycle optimization means ensuring the optimal codes are being billed, providers are documenting appropriately, and payers are approving claims. Constant measurement, continuous improvement and dialogue with payers are critical, and can make a significant difference.

It is a reality that if there is “no money, there is no mission,” and therefore we are dedicated to ensuring our programs deliver on high clinical quality and financial sustainability.

The spirit of partnership with Iris Telehealth

At Iris, one of our core values is to suck less every day, which speaks to our commitment to continuous improvement and our journey to excellence. No health system has behavioral health figured out, and no health system expects to be perfect tomorrow. Everyone’s on a journey to be better than they were yesterday. If together we commit to continual improvement, we will make a lot of progress and deliver better care for our communities.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can work together, don’t hesitate to contact us today!

As Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer, Dan Ferris drives strategy and revenue growth acceleration by identifying market opportunities and increasing awareness of how Iris can uniquely solve customer needs. Dan brings twenty years of healthcare experience in various marketing, product and strategy roles at Hillrom, CIGNA, Abbott, and Putnam Associates, a healthcare strategy consultancy.

Striking the right balance between prioritizing quality patient care and managing everyday leadership tasks is pivotal for healthcare organizations. But it’s not always easy. Hospitals and clinics have safety and quality metrics they must report on, and sometimes it’s unclear who’s responsible and whether they have the training and skills to do that type of work.

During my years at Iris, I’ve seen many clinics promote staff members into leadership positions based on seniority rather than on that person having experience in leadership or administration. That’s where leveraging an Iris provider as a virtual medical director for a behavioral health program can be a great move.

Our providers are integrated into the organizations in which they see patients. They know the staff, the patients, and the clinical challenges that the organization faces, but they can also be involved in higher-level discussions and the administrative decision-making and leadership required for clinics to maintain safety and quality reporting.

In this article, I’ll share some of my insights into how leveraging a virtual medical director works, the benefits they can bring to an organization, and how on-site teams can build trust with a virtual medical director.

How leveraging a virtual medical director works

In many places across the country, our providers serve as virtual medical directors as well as behavioral health providers. Generally, the hours are divided so the providers and staff can know which hat is being worn when.

For example, we carve out administrative time with regular meeting cadences to meet with staff and go over things like policy reviews, safety incidences, and quality metrics – and perform supervisory services when needed. That provider will also have clinical hours where they deliver psychiatric services to patients through regular appointments.

It’s important to delineate how the provider uses their hours each day to prevent confusion. There are always a lot of patients to see, so the medical director may not have the time to do the administrative work if it’s not scheduled. Setting goals, having a solid job description and expectations, and protecting time for weekly administrative and leadership meetings are essential to success in the medical director’s role.

How to build trust between an on-site staff and virtual medical director

The way humans interact is really changing. While the gold standard in healthcare has been in-person care, on-site behavioral health services aren’t always available — this became painfully apparent during the pandemic. Not only did clinics and hospitals need more providers to serve the surge of patients seeking behavioral healthcare, they needed new leadership models and staffing structures.

Telemedicine enabled us to serve so many clinics and hospitals around the country, but coming out of the pandemic, we also knew that being an organization that clinics and hospitals could trust to do virtual care well was important. We were able to demonstrate that finding a virtual behavioral health provider who can be a leader and who truly cares about your community and your clinic helps build that trust – even if they’re three or four states away.

At Iris, we’ve found the key to building that trust is open, honest, and transparent communication — it’s at the core of everything we do. We get to know the on-site team members on a first-name basis and become comfortable with each other clinically, professionally, and personally. Our goal is for our virtual behavioral health providers to be as accessible as any on-site provider might be — that’s one of the ways to build trust.

As a provider, I’ve also found making yourself available online, just as you would in person, is helpful for building trust and engagement with an on-site team.

For example, leaving your office door cracked is the universal sign that you’re available to staff when you’re not with a patient. With virtual care, leaving your video on between patients or meetings allows staff to virtually pop in and say “hi” or ask a question related to patient care. So even if you’re on a screen, the on-site staff feel like you’re present. That’s the quality and integrity of the interactions we strive for at Iris.

How to set your virtual medical director up for success

Setting up your medical director for success involves developing clear goals and objectives as well as clear boundaries.

A few questions we’ve found helpful to ask in this process are:

• How many hours will your medical director need for the administrative function?
• Who held this role before? What were their challenges? Why did they leave?
• What are the expectations of this role?
• What meetings, supervision, and oversight are required in this role?
• What would success in this role look like to your team?

We’ve helped many organizations develop job descriptions to help them answer these questions as they pertain to their unique clinical workflow and staffing matrix.

For example, a remote medical director might be responsible for working with the Chief Financial Officer or operations team. They might need to put together presentations to demonstrate the safety and quality initiatives your organization is tracking and how your organization responds to – and measures the success of – new initiatives.

Additionally, there are financial metrics, quality reports, coding, and all sorts of things a virtual medical director is regularly reviewing.

Breaking down the responsibilities of a virtual medical director

A medical director’s role is really focused on directing the clinical delivery of care and the quality, safety, and integrity of that care so patients get the help they need and providers get the support they need. This can be done through virtual leadership just as easily as through traditional on-site leadership.

In my experience, supporting teams of providers – including doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, and therapists –is very meaningful whether it is done in person or virtually.

Medical directors can be a sounding board for providers to bounce ideas off of as well as a resource for dealing with challenging clinical cases. Behavioral health patients can have high levels of acuity and sometimes have needs that providers can’t meet, so supporting colleagues and staff in their efforts to deal with dissatisfied patients can be very helpful.

Again, such support can be offered virtually by a medical director just as it might be done in person.

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

By working with a virtual care provider like Iris, your organization has a larger pool of providers to draw from. Whether you have a small office or a large clinic that needs help finding a medical director, we can help you find one that your staff and patients will enjoy working with.

If you’d like to learn more about our experience matching organizations with a virtual medical director, be sure to read through our case study from Chesapeake Integrated Behavioral Healthcare in Virginia. You can read the full piece here.

If you‘d like to talk to someone about potentially hiring a medical director, be sure to contact us today. We’d be happy to talk through the process and learn more about your needs.

Dr. Tom Milam manages our team of clinicians and guides them in telemedicine and industry best practices. He received his undergraduate degree from WVU in Anthropology, graduating summa cum laude, and received his M.D. from the University of Virginia. His residency training in psychiatry took place at Duke and UVA. Dr. Milam has served in a leadership role throughout his psychiatric career and spearheaded the telepsychiatry initiative at his previous hospital.

Iris clinicians are at the heart of what makes our organization such a special place to work. That’s why we’re turning the spotlight on the amazing work they’re doing every day. This month, we’re sitting down to talk with Dr. Valerie King-Ernst.

Q. How did you find Iris and decide you wanted to be an Iris provider?

A. I had been getting inundated with emails from telehealth companies. Iris was one of them. I spoke with a few companies, but what led me to choose Iris is that when I met with or spoke with one of the individuals on the team, they were personable, and they made me feel like as a provider – if I worked with Iris – I would be looked after, and have a support team in place.

When I spoke with other telehealth companies, they sold it by saying, “You’ll have a lot of autonomy.” While I wanted that autonomy, I also wanted a team behind me. I didn’t feel like I would get that with other places.

Q. How does telehealth compare to in-person care?

A. The biggest difference is not having to travel. That’s the best thing. There isn’t anything that can beat that. Not having to travel allows me time to get situated to go over a chart, maybe run down all the patients and see like, “Okay, I might use this with this person, I might use that with that person.”

Not to say that I don’t do that when I’m in the outpatient setting or having to travel to a place, but I feel like when you’re in traffic, things can get a little stressful because you’re traveling in rush hour traffic and sometimes that can get a little tense for people. And when you don’t have to do that, that’s one less stressor, one less thing to worry about.

Working from home allows you to focus on getting ready for the day and getting prepared for the day when you can do it from home.

Q. How do you foster connection with patients virtually?

A. I have to be honest with you, I do nothing different than what I do inpatient or in person except, of course, I do ask them if they’ve done telehealth before. I also make sure to remind them that this is confidential, and I explain all of that to them.

In terms of developing a rapport, if it’s the first visit, I’ll introduce myself, and then I make sure I maintain eye contact. I greet them with a smile when they first sit down, and sometimes, I’ll find one thing they’ve said, and I’ll try to let them know that. I may share something that’s not too personal about myself but something they might be able to relate to so they know I understand what they’re saying.

And then I do a lot of empathic listening where I repeat back to them what they’ve said or paraphrase what they’ve said so they know that I’m here, I’m listening. I don’t just do that with telehealth. I do that all the time. I paraphrase what they said and ask, “Did I get that right?”

At the end of an initial visit, I always thank them for sharing their story. And that, for me, is a way of building rapport. So they know, “I appreciate that you came and you talked to this stranger for the first time, and you are sharing all this information.”

Then, on subsequent visits, I always make sure to remember key things they said and say, “Oh, okay, that’s right. Because you said, your daughter had a soccer game after that. How did that go?” So they know they’re not just a symptom to me. They are somebody that I care about, and I want to get to know them.

Q. As a healthcare professional, how do you manage work-life balance?

A. I make sure that I’m done by a certain time. I generally get all my work done before I have to sign off. The reason why I’m doing telehealth is to allow myself to have more time with my family.

I make time to stop work at a certain time. I try to stop at least no later than a couple of hours after my last patient.

Q. What is the most rewarding part of your job?

A. Particularly in this position, I would say that I get to work with underserved communities. I’ve worked in areas where I have worked with people that had communities that had a lot of the resources, like very well-to-do communities.

You can see the difference. They have the resources and places where they can be referred to for additional support in the community. However, working in an underserved community is more gratifying for me because a lot of times, when I’m talking to my patients, I realize they don’t know about a lot of the resources available.

I had a patient last month who had food insecurity. She was saying that she can’t spend much on medications. They don’t have money to eat or anything. They don’t have food in the house.

I went online and asked her, “Do you know if there’s a food bank in your area?” And she didn’t. I did obviously talk about churches, but then I Googled a food bank for her. Then, I put that information in the after-visit summary.

I had a patient whose kid had special needs. They were talking about everything they have to deal with in terms of that. So, I went online and looked up a special needs organization in their community, and then I put that in the after-visit summary. That’s what I like about working with underserved communities.

When I work with communities with a lot more, they already have those services. Like, “Oh yeah, my kid is in this, my kid is in that.” But when you’re working with the underserved communities, they don’t really have all those resources, and they don’t know where to find them.

It is gratifying to be able to do the extra research for them.

Q. What do you love about working with Iris?

A. Having clinical managers. I can focus more on patient care. There’s always these political machinations that go on behind the scenes, and having a clinical manager I can say, “This is a concern.” It allows me to focus more on patient care. Then they can take the concern to the clinic, and I don’t have to worry about the other in-between stuff. I can go ahead and focus on patient care. So that’s a plus for sure.

And also building relationships with them is good too because they’re good people. So that is one of the good things about it.

Q. Why do you think telepsychiatry is important to the future of mental healthcare?

A. Thirty years ago, there were more community mental health centers. We have fewer now. A lot of them have shut down due to lack of funding. There’s a shortage of psychiatrists and mental health providers. Telepsychiatry is important because now we get to reach those communities that do not have those services. Access is very important.

Q. What advice would you give someone new to telehealth?

A. I would tell them to take advantage of all that telehealth has to offer because it allows you more time to spend with family because you don’t have to worry about commuting. And it allows you to focus more on patient care. Take that in and appreciate that you have that advantage over those people that are not doing telehealth.

At Iris, we believe our providers should be respected, valued, and applauded for the work they do, and we couldn’t be more proud to say, “thank you” to our very own Dr. Valerie King-Ernst. If you’d like to learn more about working for Iris Telehealth, contact us today.

Quality management is paramount to making sure you stay on track with your behavioral health goals.

Let’s take a look at how to define quality management, the benefits of quality management, and quality initiatives your organization can put into action.

The importance of quality improvement in behavioral health

Ensuring your patients get the quality care they need by assessing the impact of your behavioral health programming is essential.

Here’s what Iris Telehealth’s Executive Director of Quality, Yara Nielsenshultz, RN, MS, CPHQ, had to say about the importance of having a quality management strategy in place:

Yara Nielsenshultz, RN, MS, CPHQ, Executive Director of Quality

We cannot know for sure if we’re impacting patient outcomes without measuring them. We can think we’re doing a good job (or not), and we can look at the qualitative evidence, which is important and should not be discounted. But, without some quantitative measurement or goal in mind, we cannot be certain of whether we’re making meaningful improvement.

That’s where having a quality management strategy comes into play. It forces organizations to think about what excellent care looks like to identify opportunities to improve, take action, and, most importantly, effect meaningful change.

Focusing on quality improvement initiatives are critical to treatment outcomes, efficiency, patient safety, and timely care. By tracking and knowing with certainty how your behavioral health programs are performing, you can be sure that your patients are getting the best care possible.

To get more of our expertise, download our guide on the impact of quality management in healthcare.

Seven healthcare quality measures your organization can track

In behavioral health, objective measurement of treatment effectiveness can be challenging.

However, determining specific performance measures and goals and then gathering data on those measures provides meaningful, actionable information. This information is critical to identifying opportunities to improve and track the effectiveness of any initiatives or changes you implement over time.

Here are seven healthcare quality measures your organization can track to ensure your behavioral health program is operating as smoothly as possible:

1. Wait time: Monitoring this metric helps avoid waste (time, resources, or equipment), and provides promptness of services (reducing wait times, eliminating discharge delays, etc.)
2. No-shows: Monitoring and improving no-show rates supports consistency, which may improve patient outcomes and access to care while also optimizing provider time
3. Performing validated screening: Using validated screening tools, such as PHQ-9, GAD-7, or C-SSRS, provides measurable data to help monitor the impact of healthcare services or interventions on the health status of patients
4. Safety events; suicide: It’s critical to monitor safety events, such as treatment errors or suicide, so your team can prevent and reduce errors and protect patients
5. Timely response to patients: Tracking and optimizing response times ensures services are respectful and responsive to patient’s needs while providing the same high level of care to everyone
6. Patient Reported Outcomes (PROMs): Tracking patient-reported outcomes provides measurable data on patients’ perception of treatment effectiveness, which complements patient satisfaction and can inform quality improvement activities
7. Patient satisfaction: Implementing surveys or measures to understand patient satisfaction delivers key insights into perceptions of the care patients receive

Tracking these measures is essential for improving the quality and monitoring of your behavioral health program. However, doing it alone can be overwhelming. That’s why having a partner who can help you track these metrics and work to improve upon them is key.

The keys to quality improvement in healthcare

At Iris, we collaborate with partners to optimize their behavioral health programs and maximize their benefits. That means we collaborate and exchange data, aggregate and report information, and help their team improve upon identified quality improvement metrics.

From our experience, these are the three pillars we’ve found that make a successful quality management solution:

1. Ongoing monitoring: Meeting quality measures means keeping track of key metrics through ongoing monitoring. By leveraging a partner who effectively monitors quality measures, you’re better positioned to meet performance standards and stay on top of accreditation, certification, and regulatory requirements.
2. Regular communication: To help stay on top of key metrics, regular touch bases to analyze quality metrics and compare how your performance tracks against target goals are essential. In addition to frequent touch points, at Iris, we deliver easily understandable visualizations, identify trends, and look for opportunities for improvement.
3. Customized reports: Access to customized reports can help your team know how your organization is tracking. At Iris, we interpret data in an easy-to-understand way that helps provide guidance and recommendations for the best next steps for your organization to meet quality improvement initiatives. We help monitor, evaluate, and improve on selected quality measures like patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, efficiency, and resource utilization.

Partnering with an organization that provides quality management alongside their behavioral health programs offers many benefits, including adding additional resources to support your organization’s quality initiatives, supporting positive patient outcomes, and helping meet accreditation, certification, and regulatory requirements.

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

At Iris, we’ve helped our partners reduce the length of stay in their MedSurg units by 0.5 days, increased ED discharge rates from 55% to 62%, and reduced their length of stay in the ED from 12 to 9 hours.

Additionally, as a Joint Commission-accredited medical group, we have the expertise to help organizations monitor and address gaps to meet required standards and quality measures. We’ve also helped partners track no-show rates and helped compare provider performance to uncover best practices that were then replicated and implemented across care teams.

To learn more about how you can improve quality initiatives at your organization, contact our downloadable, The Impact of Quality Management in Healthcare. Or, if you’d like to talk to someone to learn how we can help jumpstart your quality initiatives or behavioral health program, contact us today.

Work-life balance is essential in the behavioral health industry. In this blog, we’ll review the impact of clinician burnout, how telehealth helps support work-life balance, and what a day-in-the life of a virtual behavioral health provider looks like.

The impact of provider burnout

Provider burnout impacts well-being and makes it harder for providers to access the work-life balance they need. In a 2023 report, The Physicians Foundation outlines the following data points related to the current and future state of physician well-being:

• Six in 10 physicians often have feelings of burnout
• Only 31% of physicians believe their workplace culture prioritizes their well-being
• Half of physicians surveyed believed insurance requirements, documentation protocols, regulatory policies, and mandatory training requirements hindered their ability to provide quality, cost efficient care

In this climate, how can providers know if an organization values work-life balance and helps ensure providers have the support they need to succeed? Let’s take a look at the keys to finding the right organizational fit.

The key to finding the right organizational fit

In a study published in the National Library of Medicine, researchers discovered that 42% of primary care providers and psychiatrists considered their profession a true calling. Moreover, among those who experienced a stronger sense of calling, 31% reported a reduced level of burnout.

At Iris, we’ve found the following aspects as key components that set the stage for a healthy work-life balance and allows you to focus on what you do best:

Job matching: Finding the right organization to work for is essential to helping ensure work-life balance. That’s why, at Iris, we vet our partners to ensure they’ll be the best fit for our providers. We also take things like our provider’s desired schedule and the ideal population they’d like to work with into consideration. We focus on culture and values to find the best match possible.

“A really unique part of Iris’s approach is the job matching process. Iris holds a meet and greet with the Clinical Operations Manager, the provider, and the clinic. Everyone meets and discovers whether or not they’ll be a good fit. I couldn’t be happier with where they placed me.”
– Dale McQueeney, MS, RN, PMHNP-BC

Top-notch support: Working in a virtual environment comes with its own challenges. Thankfully, with the right organization by your side, these potential setbacks are minimized. At Iris, we have several teams in place to advocate for our providers and make sure they always have someone to call. From our Clinical Operations Managers to our IT team, you can focus on patient care without having to worry about all of the little things that might get in the way.

“One of the things I love about working with Iris is the support. For example, Drew Sadler, the Clinician Operations Manager, has provided amazing support and the IT team is always ready to help.”
– Nicole Bradbury, LCSW

Licensing and credentialing: Managing licensing and credentialing can be a tedious process. In fact, The Physicians Foundation study found that 80% of physicians found a reduction of administrative burdens helpful to their well-being. At Iris, our Medical Staff Services team monitors our provider’s files daily to ensure their licensing and credentialing are on track and renew current providers’ licenses as needed.

Click here to learn more about the work our MSS team does to help ensure ease for our providers.

A day in the life of a telehealth provider

Telehealth helps support essential components of work-life balance, including no commute times, flexible hours, and the ability to transition from your work into your life easier.

Here are a few ways telehealth providers at Iris have felt the positive impacts of telehealth work:

“It’s not only about the part-time job but also the fact that I don’t have to commute. I live in a very rural place in the mountains, so I can walk on my break after lunch, or if I have a no-show or finish on time with a patient, I can take a break and go for a walk and come back. That wouldn’t have happened in my prior job. I value that a lot. It makes a big difference.”
– Dr. Carissa Cabán-Alemán

“I just completed four years with Iris. I really enjoy having all this flexibility and ability to spend time with family and get everything I need to get done during my day and still work an eight-hour shift. That is definitely a good thing.”
– Dr. Manoela Denman

“It’s tremendously easier managing work-life balance from home because my commute is really short, and it’s incredible how much time and money goes into working at a distant site from your home.”
– Dennis Dodd, PMHNP

If you’d like to learn more about what life as a telehealth provider looks like, be sure to get your copy of our downloadable here.

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

Whether you’re a psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, or a therapist, work-life balance is a key component to your job satisfaction. At Iris, we recognize and work to support your well-being at every step of your journey. If you’d like to learn more about life at Iris, feel free to contact us today.

You can also stay-up-to date on combating burnout, news from the behavioral health industry, and insights into telehealth career opportunities and resources by signing up for our Behavioral Health Messenger newsletter – get all the info and subscribe here.

The past year has been an enormous mental health challenge for children and adolescents. Research in Child Adolescent Health indicated the global closures of schools and colleges due to the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively impacted over 91% of the world’s student population. Children found their levels of boredom increasing and motivation decreasing as schedules were upended, soccer practices were canceled, and school lunches went virtual.

With these lifestyle interruptions came an alarming increase in rates of pediatric depression.

I’ve seen the challenges pediatricians are facing firsthand and hope to provide some insight into what these new pediatric mental health challenges entail, how mental health professionals can screen for depression in primary care, and strategies for treating pediatric depression.

Research indicates pediatric depression is increasing

The percentage of children and adolescents exhibiting health risk behaviors — including suicidal ideation, making a suicide plan, attempted suicide, and suicide attempts requiring medical treatment — have increased significantly since 2011 and have accelerated with the pandemic. A survey of 1000 high school and college students indicated that almost 25% knew a peer who had developed suicidal thoughts since the onset of COVID-19. And, more than 50% of respondents in a survey of high school and college students reported they were worried about their own mental health during the pandemic.

These statistics are generally elevated for any children who identify as members of marginalized communities, with LGBTQ+ youth reporting health risk behaviors at the highest rate.

Unfortunately, the concerning increase in rates of pediatric depression will not simply go away as vaccines become available. A systemic review of 63 studies found that a surprising impact of social isolation and loneliness was prolonged risk of depression and anxiety up to nine years later. Additionally, the duration of loneliness was more strongly associated with mental health symptoms than the intensity of loneliness. Even as we climb out of the quarantine period and the COVID-19 pandemic, we should expect this prolonged trauma period to affect pediatric mental health for years to come.

Screening for pediatric depression is quick, free, and easy

The DSM-5 contains information about the full spectrum of common depressive disorders in children. But, one of the most common disorders you might run into is Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

To screen for MDD, you can provide questionnaires specific to both parents and children at general visits and interpret their responses. You’ll find patients with MDD report depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in addition to five or more Major Depressive Disorder symptoms within the same two-week period.

You can use the patient’s age to determine which screening is most fitting between the Pediatric Symptom Checklist/Pediatric Symptom Checklist Youth Report (PSC and Y-PSC) and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9). Here’s how they compare:

PSC/Y-PSC

• Screens for cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems
• For youth between 4-16
• Takes 5-10 minutes to complete
• Free

PHQ-9

• Specific to depression
• For ages 12 and up
• Takes 5-10 minutes to complete
• Free

After children take either screening questionnaire, staff will score the questionnaire responses and determine whether MDD possibility is positive or negative. Of course, you should also conduct a formal assessment — including a clinical interview and symptoms rating scales — before moving forward with MDD treatment.

The patient and family-first approach to treating Major Depressive Disorder

The severity of a patient’s MDD diagnosis will direct the treatment plan:

• Treating subclinical to mild depression includes supported self-management and follow-up conversations to help the children understand how they can make themselves feel better – including how sleep and nutrition can affect their depression.
• Treating moderate depression (and mild depression that does not respond to supported self-management) includes therapy referral and an optional medication trial.
• Treating severe depression requires a therapy referral and medication.

While some families may be hesitant about one method or the other, studies indicate that a combination of therapy and medication trials will help children with severe depression improve faster.

However, as a pediatric mental health provider, it’s important to remember how scary these conversations can be for families and set clear expectations for what families and patients can anticipate throughout the treatment process.

Steps for setting family expectations include:

• Screening for family history of Bipolar Disorder and suicide.
• Communication plans for both regular follow-up and emergency access visits.
• Family education about the length of adequate trials to reduce the risk of non-compliance.
• Emphasizing that the family should alert pediatricians about worsening depression or suicidal thoughts.
• Explanation of mania to set family expectations for this common side effect of MDD medication.
• Ongoing informed consent to continue educating families and improve treatment outcomes.

SSRIs: the gold standard

As far as medication is concerned, SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) are the gold standard of care for pediatric depression. 70% of patients respond to their first SSRI, and of the patients who do not respond, 70% respond to the second SSRI.

Generally speaking, Fluoxetine, Escitalopram, and Sertraline are the most common SSRIs, with Fluoxetine being the oldest and most well-known SSRI. Whenever you’re treating a new patient or prescribing an SSRI to a child who has never taken one before, you should always conduct test doses first to understand how patients will respond to specific medications. Then, it’s important to make sure any resulting SSRI treatment plan you develop includes periodic monitoring for side effects and reassessment of patients using screening tools at recommended times throughout the treatment plan.

Next steps: resources for mental health professionals and families

Every patient and family has different needs, but, fortunately, there’s a wealth of knowledge and research around pediatric depression that can help you make the right choices for your patients.

Whether you’re looking for aacap practice parameters or pediatric depression screening tools, here are just a few of my favorite resources for providers and families:

• aacap.org and aap.org include practice parameters, with a lot of facts for families — including brief summaries explaining what to expect from pediatric mental health treatments.
• parentsmedguide.org is a collaborative effort by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association. These sites share practical information and advice regarding pediatric depression and anxiety for parents, patients, and clinicians.
• schoolpsychiatry.org is a publication by Mass General and provides valuable screening tools.

As always, Iris Telehealth is here as a resource for providers who need support. If your organization is feeling the weight of increased numbers of patients experiencing pediatric depression, contact us today. We’d love to talk to you about the difference telepsychiatry can make in your practice!

Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers (CCBHC) are specially designated clinics offering comprehensive services to treat mental health and substance use disorders. Organizations must apply for designation and adhere to extensive CCBHC certification criteria, ultimately allowing them to focus on target populations, increase access to care, and offer a broader range of services.

In a webinar hosted by Iris Telehealth, leaders from Pines Behavioral Health, HealthRIGHT 360, and Deschutes County Mental Health came together to discuss their journeys to gaining CCBHC certification, their advice on the certification process, and insights into virtual care.

In this blog, we’ll review insights from these organizations on the challenges and benefits of becoming a CCBHC and learn how they’ve found success.

First steps and goals when considering CCBHC certification

Deciding to become a CCBHC comes with many considerations, and knowing the first steps and getting clear on goals can be helpful to the process. For example, at HealthRIGHT 360, they applied via SAMHSA’s CCBHC expansion grant opportunity.

When reflecting on their goal for gaining CCBHC certification, Melissa Espinoza, the CCBHC Program Director at HealthRIGHT 360, said, “We wanted to enhance our longstanding outpatient behavioral health programs in LA County and potentially to replicate this throughout other sites within the agency and organization.”

For Chandra Mola, the Medical Team Manager at Deschutes County Mental Health, their goal was to create a more integrated, whole-person approach to care and extend outreach into their rural communities.

On their certification, Mola said, “We were certified in 2017. We had a small integrated primary care office and had kind of a one-stop shop and saw the benefits of having that whole-person care collaboration and improvements with overall health. One of the driving pieces was being able to expand to our more rural locations and offer that at all of our sites. Then the second piece was just a plan to diversify our funding.”

Whether you want to enhance your existing behavioral health services or reach more people in your community, CCBHC certification can help support your efforts. While it’s essential to get clear on your goals, it’s also important to consider any potential challenges and the right strategies you might need to meet these head-on.

Potential challenges and strategies to CCBHC certification

Gaining designation can be rigorous, and there can be a lot of CCBHC criteria to consider when preparing your organization for the process.

Here are a few challenges CCBHCs encountered when first getting started:

• Administrative challenges: At Deschutes County Mental Health, Mola said, “SAMHSA grants are daunting. They’re big. It’s certainly just being able to deal with the administrative burden it puts on every aspect of our departments. The opening up to broader groups of people offered it to people who had private health insurance. Things like just setting up the billing departments to be able to bill for all of that.”
• Staff turnover: For HealthRIGHT 360, Espinoza said they struggled to get their team on board and encountered staffing challenges. “There were a lot of long-term staff that felt they didn’t wanna be a part of this, it was too much extra. And so staffing was a struggle that we had to overcome.” Today, HealthRIGHT 360 is stabilizing and has learned a lot from its first round of funding. Espinoza said the organization worked hard to re-obtain churned staff and obtain new staff by enhancing and strengthening their benefits packages.
• Increased demand: For Pines Behavioral Health, Sue Germann, Chief Executive Officer, highlighted that it wasn’t the certification process that proved challenging, but the demand for services, which increased by 36% after their designation, citing, “Every service we provided had a greater need – including psychiatric. We connected with Iris right away with a virtual psychiatrist, which was invaluable.”

While these are certainly challenging, there are many benefits as well. Let’s take a look at the positive outcomes these organizations have encountered since their designation.

The benefits of CCBHC certification

While the upfront designation process may be tedious, according to our partners, the benefits of CCBHC certification are all worth it. At Pines Behavioral Health, Germann said their team was finally able to meet the wants of their community that aren’t necessarily Medicaid allowable.

After gaining designation, they were able to get more creative with what they offered. Speaking about the benefits of their designation, Germann said, “We created a health and wellness program where you didn’t have to come in and have an assessment and a treatment plan before you could have the service. You could come in and learn how physical health impacts mental health.”

She also mentioned the help they received with their 24/7 crisis team, noting, “We went from scheduling intakes to same-day access. We really made sure that we had enough staff to be able to meet that need. That helped us in terms of being able to meet the measures related to how quickly you needed to see someone.”

At HealthRIGHT 360, Espinoza and her team value the ability to help more people in their community and the flexibility the grant has given them.

Espinoza shares, “It has allowed us to assess and address the needs of our population in ways that we were not able to before. One of the initial CCBHC requirements is a community needs assessment. So, instead of taking long-established services and fitting clients into those boxes, we can really survey and obtain feedback from clients about their individual needs through their experiences and feedback. So that has been really important.”

At Deschutes County Mental Health, Mola pointed out the positive outcomes they’ve experienced, noting, “The benefits have been overall improved health outcomes. We’ve seen decreases in blood pressure, we’ve seen better managed A1C. BMI is still a tricky one, but we have seen a little bit of improvement there. So that whole-person care has driven us to decide to adopt this model permanently.”

The integration of the CCBHC model and virtual care

CCBHCs can benefit significantly from a strategic virtual behavioral health partnership. Through high-quality support, evidence-based care, and a team of highly qualified behavioral health providers, this partnership is one of the keys to finding success as a CCBHC.

Want to learn more about how the right telehealth partner can help support your CCBHC’s approach to evidence-based care? Check out our blog, How Telehealth Can Support CCBHC Quality Measures through Evidence-Based Care.

Reflecting on their organization’s approach to virtual care and partnership with Iris Telehealth, Espinoza said, “Virtual care has not gone away. That is a part of our long-term strategy. We do know some clients prefer and benefit from in-person services, but there are also clients who really do value the flexibility in their schedules to be able to participate in treatment through that platform as well.

Currently, in our CCBHC, we are offering a hybrid model of service delivery for our staff. It allows them the flexibility, and it allows the client’s flexibility to continue with treatment through our agency.”

For Deschutes County Mental Health, Chandra Mola says telehealth has been crucial to them during the provider shortage, stating, “Due to staffing shortages of psychiatrists and psych NPs, telehealth has been really important for us to have that balance. But even beyond that, as we’ve been able to hire more psychiatrists these last few years, it’s been a good thing to have a balance of in-person and telehealth. Particularly in our rural areas, because oftentimes they don’t have the means to get to clinics.”

Mola also noted how specific quality measures have improved at Deschutes, “We’ve noticed that our no-show rates improve when we have this option available. Ultimately our folks are getting service that is accessible to them and means that we can serve more people and do a better job.”

We want to thank the incredible leaders from Pines Behavioral Health, HealthRIGHT 360, and Deschutes County Mental Health for taking the time to share their valuable insights. We couldn’t be more proud to partner with you and work together to create a better world through healthy minds. Click here to watch the full webinar.

If you’d like to learn more about how Iris Telehealth can help assist your organization throughout the certification and beyond, contact us today!

Iris clinicians are at the heart of what makes our organization such a special place to work. That’s why we’re turning the spotlight on the amazing work they’re doing every day. This month, we’re sitting down to talk with Dr. Carissa Cabán Alemán.

Q. How did you find Iris and decide you wanted to be an Iris provider?

A. I came across Iris because of a referral from a great friend. Her name is Dr. Marialba Romero. We attended the same medical school in Puerto Rico. I was considering telehealth in the process of readaptation instead of just finding a regular job here that required me to see patients in person, and she recommended Iris. It was the main reason why I decided to apply because she had a really good experience here.

Q. How does telehealth compare to in-person care?

A. Frankly, when I was in residency, I heard that some colleagues were practicing telepsychiatry, which was pretty new back then. I was concerned because I thought the interaction would be so different, and in some ways, it is.

But I’ve realized across the years, especially after the pandemic began, we had to transition to telehealth that it works well, and you can establish a good interaction with patients that doesn’t feel cold and detached like I thought it would when I was a resident (I was very interested in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis back then). I’ve had really strong professional relationships developed with patients over telehealth.

I’ve changed my mind a lot about it. It’s been a great experience, especially because of the convenience for the patients and us. When patients can’t commute and when they have situations, it’s much easier for them to accommodate their schedule to see us. It provides better quality of care for those who have the privilege of having internet and good access to technology because of that saving of time.

Q. How do you foster connection with patients virtually?

A. You have to focus more on listening and show that you’re making a bigger effort with non-verbal facial cues. Paying attention to the eye contact and establishing that look, instead of just writing notes or doing something else, at least in the beginning, to really demonstrate that you’re listening a little bit deeper than in person because you don’t have the full presence of the person there. That’s one of the main techniques.

Then, techniques we use for basic interviewing skills that should always be utilized, but in telehealth, are very important—for example, rephrasing, summarizing for the patient, making sure that we understand them well by repeating what they said and developing a person-centered care relationship.

I’m lucky to be trained in community psychiatry, so we focus on recovery-oriented and patient-centered care. Those skills come in handy, sometimes even more with telehealth.

Q. As a healthcare professional, how do you manage work-life balance?

A. Since working in telehealth, it’s much easier now because I had a demanding academic full-time job before I made this transition. I work with Iris part-time right now. So, I have a lot more time to develop my interests in other areas of mental health that I didn’t have the chance to explore when I was a full-time professor working at the university and seeing patients.

Working with Iris a couple of times a week gives me a flexible schedule to dive into other areas and have more time to practice mindfulness, which is very important for me, and connect with nature, which is another big priority. It wasn’t easy to find the time to be out in nature when I worked 40 hours a week or more.

It’s not only about the part-time but also the fact that I don’t have to commute. I live in a very rural place in the mountains, so I can walk on my break after lunch, or if I have a no-show or finish on time with a patient, I can take a break and go for a walk and come back. That wouldn’t have happened in my prior job. I value that a lot. It makes a big difference.

Q. What is the most rewarding part of your job?

A. Seeing the patients get better. That’s always the most rewarding part. When they tell you certain things about how their quality of life is improving, when you make that click and that connection, when empathy is felt by them in your work, and then they tell you how they’re doing or they say thank you.

One of the things that I love about this job, at least with the place where I work, is that the agency Iris connected me with is very interested in providing good quality care. They allow me enough time to provide psychotherapy and not just medication management if necessary.

I also have a lot of Spanish speaking patients that have language capacity, and those patients don’t have access to therapy where they live. I provide that in addition to medication management if necessary. I value that a lot.

It’s rewarding seeing them get better, for example, this patient was having some problems with her teenage kids, and now she’s interacting with them a lot better and feeling much more capable of enjoying her time with her family. And so that kind of thing gives me the most satisfaction.

Q. What do you love about working with Iris?

A. The capacity I have to help different populations in different places. The fact that I don’t have to commute and I can live close to my family and be here. That I have an opportunity for a solid job where I have a good quality of care and a good situation in terms of the time that I have for patients without having to commute and dress up and drive and all of that. It saves me time.

I’m also a psychiatrist working on activism and educational projects about the impact of climate change on mental health. Not commuting decreases my carbon footprint and helps me not negatively impact nature. I appreciate that a lot.

Q. Why do you think telepsychiatry is important to the future of mental healthcare?

A. It’s the way that society is functioning right now. It’s the present, and it’s not even the future anymore. It’s part of a network of resources we need to utilize to increase access to care.

It’s not perfect, and I always sincerely get concerned about the lack of access many patients still have when they don’t have a computer or a cell phone. For example, people experiencing homelessness.

Of course, we still have to provide good quality care in person, and not all patients enjoy seeing us through the camera or are capable of it. But, all of the other patients that are cognitively capable and want to see us this way it’s a huge advantage that increases access to care and quality of care.

There’s no going back. This platform will be more prevalent as we go into the future.

Q. What advice would you give someone new to telehealth?

A. Make sure that you use it as a way to establish more work-life balance, not less. Working with Iris gives you more opportunity to find ways to have a more balanced work-life schedule. So, make sure you’re doing it for that.

Then, of course, try to take your breaks. I think about physical health as well. We need to stretch and stand up. It’s also important to connect with colleagues through the grand rounds and all the opportunities that Iris gives us to connect with others doing the same work so we don’t isolate ourselves.

If we only do the work and sit in a room the whole day, it can be a little bit isolating if we don’t use the company’s resources and other resources like connecting locally with professional associations and, of course, with our friends and family.

At Iris, we believe our providers should be respected, valued, and applauded for the work they do, and we couldn’t be more proud to say, “thank you” to our very own Dr. Carissa Cabán Alemán. If you’d like to learn more about working for Iris Telehealth, contact us today.

Quick links
Symptoms of compassion fatigue
How telehealth helps mental health providers combat compassion fatigue
Self-care tips for providers facing compassion fatigue
Compassion fatigue during the holidays
Where Iris Telehealth fits in

As a behavioral health provider, you’re on the front lines of America’s mental health crisis. But prioritizing self-care isn’t always easy, and working in mental health care can make you vulnerable to things like compassion fatigue.

So, what is compassion fatigue? Compassion fatigue can increase emotional intensity, decrease cognitive ability, and create a chronic activation of your stress response. Compassion fatigue can also contribute to provider burnout.

Fortunately, there are ways to prevent compassion fatigue and recognize signs early.

Symptoms of compassion fatigue

Developing compassion fatigue can create cognitive dissonance, causing you to do and say things that don’t align with your values. If you’ve experienced disconnection like this, it’s important to recognize that these behaviors aren’t coming from a place of malice – it might just mean you’re dysregulated.

Here are a few emotional and physical signs you might be experiencing compassion fatigue:

• Isolation: If you’re experiencing compassion fatigue, you might find yourself pulling back from people who don’t work in the same field because they may not understand your experience.
• Physical exhaustion: When you walk out of a psychiatric unit, do you feel like you have debilitating fatigue? This feeling might be compassion fatigue. On the physical side, you might also experience sleep and appetite disturbances.
• On-the-job challenges: Working with behavioral health patients requires emotional regulation. Compassion fatigue can increase emotional intensity and decrease cognitive ability.

To view a complete list of compassion fatigue symptoms, visit The American Institute of Stress’s website for more information.

If these symptoms sound like something you’re experiencing, you’re not alone. Thankfully, there are actions and solutions that can make your ability to do what you love easier.

How telehealth helps mental health providers combat compassion fatigue

One of the ways compassion fatigue can happen is by absorbing trauma, or experiencing what’s called secondary trauma. For example, as a provider, you may have one person come in and tell you stories about hard things they have experienced, they leave, and then the next person comes in and tells you their difficult stories. In turn, you may be absorbing this trauma.

Fortunately, virtual care modalities like telepsychiatry and teletherapy can help.

Here are a few benefits of remote behavioral health work:

• A barrier to stress: The computer screen facilitates a bit of protection that allows providers to create more distance between themselves and their work. The screen provides a barrier allowing providers to make more informed choices from logic, rather than from emotion.
• Safe, comfortable environment: Because you’re in your own home and space, you have more control over how you’re spending your time in between clients or after your appointments. Those regular on-site stressors are removed from your daily life and you’re in your safe space. However, it’s also important to be mindful of any stressors you might pull into your space. Taking a mindful approach when transitioning from work to life is essential.
• No more commutes: When you don’t have to worry about an extensive commute, you can spend more time doing what you love. Working from home makes transitions into your personal life easier and creates more opportunity to relax, take meaningful breaks, and keep a more manageable pace in your day-to-day life.
• Top notch support: At Iris Telehealth, we help ensure our providers have everything they need to thrive, not only in their work lives, but in their personal lives, too. That’s why we encourage our clinicians to take breaks throughout the day, provide a generous PTO policy, and ensure they get matched with an organization that aligns with their needs and values.

Want to learn more about life as a remote provider? Check out our Clinician Corner series to hear first-hand experiences from Iris’s own behavioral health clinicians.

Self-care tips for providers facing compassion fatigue

We’ve seen first-hand how compassion fatigue can lead to burnout in mental health professionals. What are you doing to help yourself get back to your baseline after you sign off for the day?

Here are our top four actions you can take to prioritize self-care:

1. Practice mindfulness: Exercises like meditation, mindful walking, and gratitude can play a big role in helping you steer clear of compassion fatigue. You can also try setting aside dedicated time for deep breathing. For example, when your computer is booting up in the morning, let this process act as a queue to take four deep breaths. This technique can help you re-center yourself and prepare for the day.
2. Get active and eat well: Find a way to move your body every day – whether that’s a five minute walk, an hour long workout, or more mini breaks throughout your day. It’s also important to make sure you get outside for at least five minutes every day and fuel your body with things you know are going to help you feel better, like eating a balanced diet.
3. Seek out support: Having a community to lean on is essential to your well-being. This strategy can be met by joining a support group or talking with a person in your life who understands what you’re experiencing and can empathize and sympathize with you. Investing in therapy is also a good option for providers in the mental health space.
4. Delegate responsibility: You don’t have to take on the world alone. Delegating responsibility and finding people you can ask to help is key. For example, is there someone who can help out with housekeeping? Or, someone who can help out with school pick-up? Figuring out where you can pull in help can be a game changer.

Compassion fatigue during the holidays

Compassion fatigue doesn’t take a break during the holidays, but it does provide a good opportunity to check-in. Here are a few things to keep in mind as we approach the holidays season.

As we head into the holiday season, ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you using your break to look for a new job?
• Are you finding it difficult to meaningfully connect with loved ones?
• Do you have a lack of desire to do what you love?
• Are you overindulging in things like alcohol or food? These can be used to mask what you’re actually feeling.
• Are you using your time off to sleep instead of doing things you love?

If you answered “yes” to most of the questions above, you might be experiencing compassion fatigue. If this sounds like you, consider the following:

• Create a plan to completely turn off during the holidays, and create a separation between yourself and your work
• Create a plan to reset – close your computer down and move your chair away from your desk, or close the door on your office to create separation for yourself
• Do something that brings you joy and find a way to connect with someone else
  Say no and set boundaries
• Download the Calm app, check out online workout videos like Yoga with Adrienne, or try out some new mindfulness techniques from Positive Psychology

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

At Iris, we believe our providers should be applauded and celebrated for their work. That’s why we help ensure they have what they need to succeed – less paperwork, a low-stress environment, and great benefits. Want to learn more about what life at Iris looks like? Contact us today! We have opportunities available now for psychiatrists, PMHNPs, and LCSWs.

Telepsychiatry is a great way to improve access to care for your patients, but how do you know if it would be a good fit for your health system? Before you make a decision, there are several components you should consider, like what care models would be most beneficial for your organization, how to ensure the right provider fit, and what to look for in a behavioral health partner.

If you’re looking to integrate a virtual behavioral health solution into your organization, keep reading to learn what you need to know to make an informed decision.

Key considerations for your telepsychiatry program

While jump-starting a telepsychiatry program might seem intimidating, it’s easier than you might think. Often, an organization’s hesitation comes from not knowing how telepsychiatry will fit into their current systems or workflows. However, this virtual solution has three components that can help deepen understanding.

Virtual care mirrors on-site care: Fortunately, a good virtual care solution reflects on-site patient care in nearly every way — regardless of setting.

Integration is vital: The proper workflows paired with consistent, simple technology can help virtual providers integrate seamlessly into your organization’s care team and systems. At Iris Telehealth, our providers use the same EMR as the on-site staff. This approach reduces disruption in communication between the care team and improves continuity of care for the patient. It also allows the Iris provider to establish and cultivate strong relationships with staff and patients.

Simple and effective technology: Before launching your telepsychiatry program, it’s essential to test out your IT solutions, train staff, and perform dry-runs. Connectivity issues, poor network speeds, and complicated software and hardware often cause disruptions that affect the patient’s experience. That’s where the right partner comes in. For example, at Iris, we help ensure everything is set-up and ready-to-go before appointments begin. The ultimate goal is for the technology to fade into the background during the appointment.

Next, we’ll take a look at the different behavioral health care models that can be delivered via telehealth.

Virtual care services for health systems and hospitals

There are several behavioral health services that can be delivered via telehealth. Here are a few that we make available at Iris Telehealth:

Bridge Care Services: Bridge Care Services provides a clinician-guided, evidence-based navigation assessment that directs patients to the most appropriate next level of care, delivers effective short-term behavioral health care, and facilitates a closed-loop handoff to the optimal longitudinal provider to address the gaps in care across the continuum.

On-Demand Services: On-Demand Services delivers 24/7 behavioral health care to increase throughput in your ED, reduce unnecessary admissions, and limit the revisit rate of behavioral health patients. These services provide access to a multi-disciplinary provider pod that will assess your behavioral health patients and consult with your on-site ED care team to get those patients dispositioned as quickly as possible.

Scheduled Services: This solution delivers access to consistent, high-quality providers dedicated to your health system (including individual hospitals and outpatient clinics) on a consistent schedule each week – ensuring a predictable coverage model for organizations. Investing in Scheduled Services means you have a dedicated provider who integrates with your team and allows your on-site providers to focus on what they do best and work at the top of their licenses.

If you’d like to learn more about these services, download our whitepaper exclusively for hospitals and health systems.

The patient’s perspective on virtual behavioral health care

Technology has become an integral part of our daily lives, and virtual care has become the norm. Studies show that 59% of people would use telehealth for mental healthcare, and by 2029 behavioral health visits are expected to increase by 50%.

Most people are comfortable video chatting to keep in touch with friends and family members. Telemedicine isn’t different from these virtual interactions many of us have daily. But, a successful telehealth interaction involves a provider who excels at connecting with people over the video, a unique skill that not everyone has.

It can also be beneficial to ask your patients what they want directly and use this information to make a decision. Ultimately, the benefits for patients are significant. Telepsychiatry allows patients to get timely, high-quality psychiatric care facilitated by providers who are experts in assessing patient needs. Psychiatric care in a virtual environment helps patients get treated as quickly as possible as opposed to waiting for long hours in a busy waiting room.

How to find the right provider

It’s important to note that not every excellent doctor is a fantastic telehealth provider. In fact, it takes a unique and robust skillset to make a superb telepsychiatry provider. Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking for the right provider fit.

First, telepsychiatrists should be flexible. If something changes in their day to day, they should be comfortable going with the flow. Next, personability is essential for fostering patient comfort and connecting in a virtual environment. Given the nature of remote work, it’s also vital that they’re good communicators. Most importantly, they need to fit into your culture and have a shared belief in your values and mission.

Second, finding the right provider match can be challenging. That’s why it’s essential to work with a partner who can connect you with the right match. At Iris, we have a rigorous vetting process that ensures all our behavioral health providers are top quality and have a track record of providing exceptional care. We call this process, The Iris Match, and it’s our promise to you that we will ensure your Iris provider will meet your organization’s needs, culture, and values.

To learn more about this approach, download our guide, “How to Find the Best Telemental Health Provider for Your Organization.”

The key to identifying the right behavioral health partner

So, what does the right behavioral health partner look like? There are four key components you should check off your list before making a decision to partner with a virtual behavioral health solution.

1. Do they facilitate provider matching solutions? At Iris, we draw from a large pool of highly vetted clinicians to help ensure organizations are connected to the provider type they need – whether that’s an MD, PMHNP, LCSW, or LPC.
2. Are they Joint Commission accredited? Since 2019, Iris Telehealth has been certified for the Joint Commission for behavioral health. This accreditation speaks to our commitment to quality care.
3. Do they offer quality support beyond connecting you to providers? For example, licensing and credentialing, day-to-day support, and help executing behavioral health strategies.
4. Are they medical group led? We were founded by a child psychiatrist and have an expert group of medical leadership that offers guidance and recommendations to ensure your organization uses your telehealth solution to your best advantage.

If you can check all these off your list, there’s a good chance you’ve found a strategic behavioral health partner who can help you secure long-term success for your organization and patients.

Is telepsychiatry right for you?

Telepsychiatry can work in almost any setting and can be a great solution to improving patient care all while creating more efficient systems for your organization. At Iris Telehealth we make implementing a telepsychiatry solution a seamless process for health systems. If you’d like to learn more, contact us today.

Provider retention is always top of mind for healthcare organizations – especially during a provider shortage. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to set your organization up for success and retain the incredible providers that join your team. In this blog, we’ll review best practices, tips, and strategies you can implement to help improve employee retention in healthcare.

Challenges organizations face with provider retention

According to data from the Health Resources & Services Administration, 164 million people live in a mental health professional shortage area, and more than 8,000 mental health professionals are needed to meet the demand for care.

Mental health professionals have more flexibility to change jobs because the need for their services is so high. In fact, a new report from Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HCS) surveyed 426 behavioral health facilities and found an average 27% turnover rate across all positions, with a vacancy rate of 14%.

So, what can healthcare organizations do to find providers? And, once they’ve found the right provider, how can they make sure they’re happy long-term? Let’s take a look at a few best practices they can implement at their organization.

Strategies to retain mental health professionals

Helping ensure providers are supported is one of the keys to recruitment and retention in healthcare. This supportive approach can start from the very beginning. For example, it’s essential to provide benefits and compensation aligned with the demands of the community where they live and the cost of living.

Additionally, one of the most significant contributors to attrition in the mental health space is compassion fatigue and burnout. As behavioral health clinicians regularly hear stories of trauma, which can cause secondary trauma for them. So, ensuring your providers are supported and have someone they can talk to can be very beneficial. If your provider is in a virtual environment, helping them connect with onsite or other virtual colleagues is especially helpful.

For instance, leveraging an internal messaging platform, along with regularly scheduled meetings can help support your clinicians and keep them engaged. It’s crucial that clinicians feel included in the day-to-day and that they have a connection to one another.

In addition to these strategies, there are a few tried and true best practices you can implement to help create a positive experience for your providers.

Best practices to improve provider retention

At Iris Telehealth, we’ve found that creating a supportive environment for providers has been key to provider retention.

Here are a few of the best practices we’ve put in place to help secure long-term matches:

• Thorough clinical recruitment process: From the beginning, our clinical hiring team gets to know our clinicians – their preferences, values, and needs. That way, we can help ensure they find an organization that’s the best fit for them. That also means we get to know our partner organizations very well. Through our clinical recruitment process, called The Iris Match, we work to make the best matches possible, so the provider and the organization they work for are set-up for long-term success.
• Effective communication: Our clinical operations managers (COMs) at Iris help ensure our providers always have someone to call and know how important they are. This team serves as their advocates, addressing any and all needs a provider may have. At the same time, COMs help our partners ensure their long-term relationship with the provider is successful by helping facilitate effective collaboration and communication.
• Licensing and credentialing: Another impactful best practice we implement is help with licensing and credentialing. Our medical staff services (MSS) team effectively licenses and credentials all Iris providers and gives providers and partners the most efficient, proactive, and trouble-free experience during onboarding and throughout the relationship. By taking care of this part of the puzzle, providers can focus on doing what they do best – providing quality patient care.
• Quality benefits: Ensuring our providers have what they need in terms of compensation and benefits is crucial. That’s why we offer our providers the option of a W2 or 1099, whatever fits their lifestyle. We also offer continuing education funds, an office expense account, and a good health insurance plan.

Leveraging these multiple layers of support helps increase provider satisfaction, and ultimately helps increase retention as well. Let’s dive a little deeper into the importance of matching the right clinician with the right healthcare organization.

Finding the right provider match and securing long-term care

Quality matches ensure a long-term fit. That’s why we take making quality matches seriously. Here are a few insights we have implemented into The Iris Match.

• In every scoping call with an organization, we review technical questions like appointment times, population seen, and diagnoses.
• We ask what’s unique about your population or what would be essential to know.
• We ask about desired soft skills, personality, or what the organizations have liked about some of their long-term providers so we can identify similar qualities.

At Iris, we’ve found that it’s not just a matter of a skill fit as much as it’s a will fit. We’re proud to match providers with organizations where they feel aligned and supported.

Where Iris fits in

At Iris, we take retention seriously – from the first interview all the way through the interview. We highly value creating amazing experiences for providers and organizations.

If you’d like to learn more about The Iris Match, or learn if we can help you find a clinician who your patients and providers will love, contact us today.

Iris clinicians are at the heart of what makes our organization such a special place to work. That’s why we’re turning the spotlight on the amazing work they’re doing every day. This month, we’re sitting down to talk with Dr. Iype.

Q. How did you find Iris and decide you wanted to be an Iris provider?

A. Dr. Milam was my attending physician when I did my residency at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Virginia. I knew he was starting up something called Iris. Then, later on, after I graduated from residency, I was looking into telehealth options, and I saw Iris. It never linked until later after residency that, “Oh my goodness, this is what Dr. Milam was talking about!” It was natural to reach out to him and ask whether I would be a good fit.

Personal connections are how I usually learn about jobs. I trusted Dr. Milam to tell me about Iris; it sounded like a good fit.

Q. How does telepsychiatry compare to in-person care?

A. My first job was crisis walk-in and telehealth, too. I did a combo where I still had to go to the facility and do telehealth. Comparatively speaking, I live in the Maryland area, and it took me an hour to get to work. In terms of work-life balance, it’s amazing that I get to be present at work when I need to be at work and at home when I need to be at home. And there’s no in-between fluff of transportation or anything. That’s my biggest thing is the fluff isn’t there. When I’m with my patients, I’m with my patients. Then, when I’m with my family, I’m with my family.

Q. How do you foster connection with patients virtually?

A. I tell them what to expect. When I first start an interview, I ask them, “Hey, are you familiar with this kind of technology?” Some are, some are not. Then I equate it to something they’re familiar with, like FaceTime. I’ll say, “It’s similar to FaceTime, but this is more of a professional setting where you get to meet with your doctor.” Then I tell them the pros and cons. I lay it out there because most of the time, they’re very grateful they can see a specialist because of where I provide care. I provide care in Michigan, where specialists are few and far between.

A lot of patients do well with that. I have some people who will wait for me. I try not to be late, but they say, “It’s worth waiting for Dr. Iype.” That connection is there. Usually, because you listen and you’re attentive to details, people forget that there is a screen or a certain amount of miles, and they probably have to get on a plane to be in the same state as their physician.

Q. As a healthcare professional, how do you manage work-life balance?

A. I always say it’s a work in progress. I have two small kids. One is three, and the other just turned one. Home life is hectic in terms of their needs, but telehealth provides that work-life balance for me, and I don’t spend an hour commuting. I am as present as I can be with my kids when I’m there and with my patients as much as I can be when I’m there. The work-life balance is there because I’ve removed that commute time, which is important to me at this point in my career. I try to get into hobbies or be as connected to hobbies as much as possible, like reading and doing the things I enjoy on the side. My work allows for that flexibility.

Q. What is the most rewarding part of your job?

A. Change is very slow. For psychiatry, you don’t necessarily get that gratification of stitching up a wound. That immediate gratification isn’t there. It’s change over time. That might happen over years, months, and decades – to have patients succeed. It can be just from the fact that they’re able to go back to work or they’re able to go and do something that they were not able to do, interact more with friends or family. I get to be part of that journey. That change might not be so obvious the first time I met them or maybe even a year later. But the change I see is very gratifying in the length of time it took for that patient to get there.

It’s amazing. I love looking back at cases and seeing how far they’ve come, and I’ll mention it, and you get to share in that joy. An ER doc stitches up a wound; that’s great, it’s gratifying. It’s very physical, but my job entails more of a slower process, and I find that very gratifying because that’s almost longer lasting. It’s neat to see how far patients have come, and I get that continuity of seeing that.

It’s amazing to see the dynamics of growth, and growth happens slowly. Some patients become sober or quit smoking or do something where they’ll come back and tell you, “It’s that one conversation we had.” We might not think much of it, but that really stuck with them for some reason. They’ll say, “Dr. Iype, you mentioned I should stop smoking, and I actually did.” I say that to 50 patients, and probably two listen – that’s awesome. You might not have that conversation in the emergency room or someplace as fast-paced. I enjoy that it’s a little bit slower, maybe not as quick as other specialties, and objectively seeing things. But overall, I think there are incremental small, minute changes that are amazing and very impactful.

Q. What do you love about working with Iris?

A. They’re extremely efficient. Working for community mental health, if there’s an EMR-related question, I have to ask the organization’s IT team, and the efficiency and responsiveness may not be there. Iris is not the same — Iris is extremely responsive and very efficient. They are looking at, “Hey, how can I improve your workflow to make your life easier?” That is their motto, and they try to strive to live by it. Danielle Swanson, my Clinical Operation Manager (COM), checks in and asks, “Is your equipment up to date? Is there an extra camera that I can give you?” They’re looking for, “Is the doc doing what she loves? Which is seeing patients. Or is her time being spent trying to fix the camera?”

They work on making sure that I’m spending my time doing what I love. That is why I love Iris. I can text Danielle, call, and set up a meeting, and she checks in with me. The COMs are amazing. They’re lifelines and very helpful. IT is amazing. I know both sides because I work in the community mental health part, where they might struggle with efficiency and, sometimes, responsiveness. In contrast, Iris is quite the opposite, which is refreshing.

They’re like magicians or wizards. I’m like, “Danielle, I don’t know who to talk to,” and they make it happen. I’m like, “wizardry,” that’s what it is. Many places do not have COMs or people interested in making sure that you are doing what you want to do, which is seeing patients and not necessarily worrying about technical issues or tickets. That’s amazing. I’m working with wizards and magicians, and superheroes. That’s what I enjoy about working with Iris as opposed to somewhere else.

Q. Why do you think telepsychiatry is important to the future of mental healthcare?

A. Access to care. I work in Clair County, Michigan, and psychiatrists are not accessible. Small communities of people access mental health care through telehealth, and that’s it. These places are full of need, yet they don’t have a physician servicing that need other than through telehealth. It is vital in providing care to people that need it. It gives the physician flexibility to not necessarily live in that state but be able to provide much-needed care. There’s gratitude on the patient’s end for that access to care. And then there’s the gratitude of the physician having the flexibility to live where they want. It’s a win-win, and access to care is the most important piece.

Q. What advice would you give someone new to telehealth?

A. It’s most likely that you’ll never go back. If there’s a lot of fluff and other things taking you away from work, adding time to get to work, or barriers to being present at home, then telehealth is an option for you. It removed about two hours of my day going back and forth to work. If you’re looking for something that removes ‘the extra,’ I call it, then it’s something you should consider. It provides that work-life balance that a lot of people are seeking. When I turn on my computer, I immediately access my patients. When I turn off my computer, I have immediate access to my friends and my family.

What I love and wish and hope for someone who starts telehealth is that they can do what they love both in their personal lives and their career. I don’t think there’s any going back. There’s that flexibility. Iris is pretty awesome about being flexible with the hours and all of that. It’s awesome if you’re looking for something on the side or something else. It’s great.

At Iris, we believe our providers should be respected, valued, and applauded for the work they do, and we couldn’t be more proud to say, “thank you” to our very own Dr. Iype. If you’d like to learn more about working for Iris Telehealth, contact us today.