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Digital Approaches to the Psychiatric Care of Olde ...
Presentation Q&A
Presentation Q&A
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Video Transcription
So, we have a few questions that have been entered, including several of them that just say, thank you so much. This was fascinating data. One person wrote in and said, amazing use of technology. As someone who works at a community mental health clinic with a low-income population, when do you think wearables or other technologies like this will be something we can bill for in order to buy them for our patients? That's a wonderful question, and I think it gets to the heart of what will determine tech adoption. I believe that it varies from technology to technology. Our approach is twofold. To start with, I think it makes sense to just do a quick review of what technologies a person may already have. I have often been surprised that even among low-income populations, it's not uncommon to have a pretty good cell phone that someone may already be using. If someone wanted to build a library of technologies to give to patients to use as needed, commercially usable wearables are probably the simplest way to go. I do not believe that our current billing practices have quite caught up with this space yet. I think there needs to be a better and bigger body of more substantive data that show us that technology and healthcare is actually going to improve outcomes. We don't have those studies quite yet. So I think it's a matter of watching how the research evolves, but once we have enough evidence to suggest that using a wearable or a mobile phone can substantially improve symptomatology and outcomes, that will be the time when groups like the APA can make a case to organizations like CMS or insurance. It's hard to put a timeframe on this, but I think this is a space to watch. In the meantime, if funding is available, a couple of wearables are not that difficult to buy. In our clinic, we actually have a small library of wearables that we just give to our patients to wear for a week or two, typically to measure sleep, because commercial grade wearables can actually give some insight into sleep patterns, and they're a marker of changes both in depression and bipolar disorder. So I think insofar as making an investment in clinic infrastructure, that is something to think about. I like that idea of sort of checking it out for a week or two. That's a great idea, because that means you could have a smaller inventory but reach more patients. So I think that's a great idea for someplace just starting. Someone wrote in and said, do you encourage patients to join social media if they're lonely as a tool to help? Another excellent question. Social media is a complicated beast, isn't it? Because it can be used in so many ways by so many people for so many things. I think how one uses it depends on who they're using social media to reach out to. The data that I presented earlier sort of point that the more interactive it can be, the better it is. I think social media as a way to just consume information or stay in touch with what's happening out there is a very different indication from using Facebook or Twitter or Instagram to have active dialogue back and forth with people that they know. I think to the extent that social media is a way to optimize connectivity, it's a good thing. If social media is just a way to consume information, that has its benefits, obviously. Also its downsides. People need to be thoughtful about what they're trying to get from social media use. It's so broad that it's hard to give a black and white answer on do it or not do it. I think the most you can say generalizably is that if use of social media is going to improve social connectedness, then it's probably a good thing in the context of loneliness. Wonderful. We have time for one more question. You showed several screenshots from patients in your case study examples. How do you get or decide, how do you put that technology into the electronic medical record? We get the patient's permission first. So before we ask anyone to send us anything, we review how this will work. We make sure we have their consent. We actually get them to sign a form saying that they're okay with this. Once we get the image, there's a few different ways of doing it. The system we use won't allow direct integration. So we will take a printout of the image and scan it into the record where it lives in the media section. Wonderful.
Video Summary
In the video, the speaker addresses questions from viewers, including one about when wearable technology can be billed for and provided to low-income patients. The speaker mentions that although current billing practices have not caught up with this space yet, once there is enough evidence showing that wearables can improve outcomes, organizations like the APA can make a case to insurers. The speaker also discusses the use of wearables to measure sleep patterns and changes in depression and bipolar disorder. Additionally, the speaker talks about the use of social media as a tool to combat loneliness, emphasizing the importance of thoughtful use based on individual goals. Finally, the speaker explains how patient permission is obtained and images are integrated into the electronic medical record. The video is summarised in 100 words or less.
Keywords
wearable technology
low-income patients
billing practices
improve outcomes
social media
Funding for SMI Adviser was made possible by Grant No. SM080818 from SAMHSA of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, SAMHSA/HHS or the U.S. Government.
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