I had an interesting experience a couple of weeks ago. A prospective patient wanted to come see me, but there was a potential problem because of the location for my office.
I have my office in a professional building occupied by attorneys, accountants, therapists, doctors and businesses like staffing agencies and consumer research groups. By and large, I really like the location—the only real problem is extremely diligent enforcement of parking laws. (If the state government were half as efficient as the private contractors who enforce the parking laws around the building where I work, there would be no budget deficit in Maryland.)
In general, the location has been ideal for most of my patients, but the person who called me a couple of weeks ago was someone who, because of a professional position, was likely to be recognized by some people in my building.
Stigma is a big impediment to psychiatric care and I understand that, even though I think the stigma is pretty stupid given how well most (but not all) psychiatric problems improve with treatment.
Anyway, telepsychiatry turned out to be just the thing for my new patient. He came for an initial interview face-to-face and agreed that he would come in again and see me face-to-face if I thought that was necessary. After a couple of telepsychiatry sessions he’s really happy to have found a way to get treated without giving up his privacy and maybe having to answer some awkward questions when he walks into my building.
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