Telepsychiatry Revolutionizes Medicaid Mental Health

Medicaid Fails Doctors and Patients in Mental Health

Finding behavioral health services while on a state Medicaid program for those without the resources for private insurance or private payment has been a very difficult process, and the increasing lack of provider availability has taken the “care” out of medical care. Medicaid covers mental health conditions, but that doesn’t mean there’s any provider available to treat it. While primary care providers do their best for behavioral health referrals, there isn’t much they can do other than get a patient in a long queue to see a mental health specialist. Even with the increasing medical care provided by alternative providers such as physicians’ assistants and nurse practitioners, the demand has exceeded the supply for mental health services and treatment for substance use disorders.

The fault doesn’t fall entirely on mental health care providers, as Medicaid payouts are often low for behavioral health providers and the process of submitting claims comes with rejections. Due to the high demand for mental health services many providers do not take new patients or become cash only to focus on medical care instead of taking notes and submitting bills with complicated codes. Often mental health care providers are just as frustrated with the system as patients when it comes to health coverage.

A solution has come to the shortage of behavioral health resources has come to forefront in the process of telemedicine, but often these solutions don’t work when clinics find the cost of hiring a full-time or part time telemedicine doctor directly to be the same as hiring an on-site full-time employee. This means telemedicine is part of the solution, but only halfway there. Telepsychiatry staffing, using a third-party company, bridges the final portion of the gap for Medicaid coverage for mental disorders.

Telepsychiatry staffing in Community Mental Health Centers

Community Mental Health Centers, often referred to as CMHCs, have greatly benefited from the introduction of CMHC telepsychiatry by leading behavioral health companies. CMHCs are typically the first point of contact for Medicaid recipients needing mental health treatment in urban areas and provide services ranging from case management to full psychiatric care. Unfortunately, before telemedicine their availability for new patients for mental illness was minimal.

Telepsychiatry staffing resolves the issues commonly found with direct hires, such as benefits and high fixed costs, by allowing flexibility with changing hours and fee for service models. Behavioral health telemedicine companies often work with different billing models, but most offer staffing at multiple locations under different models including hourly and fee for service rates, allowing more patients to be seen by having greater efficiency and flexibility through a contractor model.

Telepsychiatry staffing for Federally Qualified Health Centers

Federally Qualified Health Centers, known as FQHCs, are typically the clinics supporting Medicaid based medical care in rural areas. They go beyond mental health care and provide all care needed; however, their rural locations often become their biggest downfall. The availability of medical professionals to move and go to rural clinics is more expensive than typical hiring with more difficulty in recruiting, as the pay is often the same or lower and requires a medical provider to move to a rural location. Even if telemedicine is used, the applicant pool is typically low as recruitment is limited to the immediate area. This greatly diminishes the availability of mental health services for medicaid enrolees.

FQHC telepsychiatry staffing resolves this by allowing contracting from any provider licensed in the state with the company, which increases the pool significantly and even allows for various specialties to be recruited. The contractor model allows flexibility to grow as the clinic grows, and the use of a staffing company ensures that there’s always more availability to grow or if needed the ability to reduce hours without the typical HR costs associated with it.

The Medicaid Mental Healthcare Problem Solved

The availability issue as well as the facility cost issue are resolved through telepsychiatry staffing, and many telepsychiatry staffing companies that specialize in working with FQHCs and CMHCs such as FasPsych will handle the billing with the clinic and provider, ensuring providers don’t have the frustration of billing state Medicaid programs. Flexibility in hours, location, and the availability and flexibility to make schedule changes are unique to telepsychiatry staffing through a third-party company, allowing the Medicaid mental healthcare problem to be solved.