An Introduction To PsychCoverage, Inc
Thursday, January 10th, 2013PsychCoverage, Inc is a company that fills a very unique, very specific need in the medical community, and because this niche is so specialized there are not yet other companies that offer these types of services. Thanks to this unique position, many practitioners have questions about what PsychCoverage is and what it means to them. Here, we’ll explain in depth all about our company, how it came to be, and what it’s meant to do.
Meet PsychCoverage
Psychiatrists have the legal and ethical obligation to be available to their patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This means that any time that pager or cell phone rings it must be answered. To patients this sounds like a wonderful requirement because it’s comforting to know that your psychiatrist isn’t restricted to 9-5, just like mental illness is not bound by time or place. But for psychiatrists, who spend all day with their patients and working on paperwork and other requirements of a practice, the last thing they may feel like doing late at night is sitting on the phone with a patient in crisis. That, however, is the call of the trade and something the vast majority of psychiatrists accept in the beginning.
Fast forward ten years and the psychiatrist has a young family and a growing practice. After an 8-10 hour day and another 2-4 hours with the kids and dealing with home life, the exhausted psychiatrist gets a phone call. He has a choice to make: answer it and spend an hour talking through symptoms of a new medication or ignore it and go to bed worried about the patient (and deal with the aftermath in the morning). Some psychiatrists will ask their colleagues to cover their phone on an important night or while on vacation, but because of the amount of stress this requires, not to mention the fact that they’d have to return the favor in the future, many psychiatrists do not choose that option. PsychCoverage provides a reliable third choice for the tired, burned out practitioner: hire a trained psychiatric nurse to answer your calls at night, on the weekends, and while on vacation. This practice fulfills the obligation to be available for patients at all times while giving psychiatrists their own lives back.
How psychiatric coverage works
One of the most common after-hours calls a psychiatrist receives is related to medication and symptoms. Patients starting a new medication will have worries and concerns if things aren’t going the way they think it should or if they’re not better immediately. Rather than forcing a psychiatrist to spend his evenings re-explaining the benefits of the medication and the importance of sticking to the regimen, or risk the patient deciding on his own to stop taking the medication, an experienced RN at PsychCoverage can reassure and educate the patient. Most of the time that’s all that’s necessary, and the calm, soothing voice of a trained RN can be enough to get the patient to relax until their next appointment. One reason this is especially helpful is because a burned out psychiatrist, who has already explained everything to a patient, may not be in the best of spirits to go through it all again. A fresh perspective (but one that agrees with the psychiatrist) is a wonderful resource for a concerned patient.
PsychCoverage offers more peace of mind than anything else. The anxiety and uncertainty that surrounds a private psychiatric practice is too often overwhelming for practitioners and their families, and PsychCoverage removes that stress. Imagine: your phone doesn’t ring all weekend or all vacation but when you return you have a full report of any patient interaction and there’s no playing catch up.
How to get PsychCoverage services
If all of this has enticed you and made you realize just how much you could benefit, you’ll be happy to know the process is easy. You can sign up here or call 800-544-6444 and founder Jack Coughlin, RN will discuss your needs and your level of coverage. Once an agreement is made, you’re able to specify if you want to be contacted by PsychCoverage in certain situations, such as if a specific patient calls or in a specific circumstance. You also authorize medication refills for specific patients (PsychCoverage will not authorize any new medication or any medication refills that isn’t pre-authorized by you). This makes for an easy transition for your patients and ensures they’re taken care of in your absence. From then on, you can relax knowing your phone won’t ring, your patients will be cared for, and you can get back to living your own life and enjoying a little bit more separation from work.
Learn about the founder of PsychCoverage, Jack Coughlin, RN here.