Telepsychiatry for Correctional Institutions
Did you know that there are more mentally ill people in correctional facilities than in mental health hospitals? Not only do many criminal offenders struggling with mental illness get incarcerated and end up in a correctional institution, but many criminals also develop a mental condition within the confines of a prison.
Providing them with effective mental health care is absolutely paramount not only for their well-being but also for the safety of prison staff and other inmates.
This is always much easier said than done, but advances in technology have brought a solution that can change everything – telepsychiatry.
What is Telepsychiatry?
Telepsychiatry is the practice of utilizing telecommunications technology to deliver remote psychiatric evaluation and care that’s effective and equivalent to in-person care. It involves using video conferencing technology to provide mental health treatment online, without the need for on-site meetings.
innovaTel is here to provide your correctional facility with high-quality telepsychiatry services. We have a wide network of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners from all over the country who can help you turn your facility into a much healthier and safer environment.
Why Correctional Facilities Need Telepsychiatry?
It’s often quite challenging to recruit psychiatrists who are willing to work in correctional institutions. This is simply because of the question of safety. Very few of prescribing clinicians want to put themselves through stressful patient consultations and treatments that are often associated with these facilities.
However, there’s another pressing issue concerning psychiatrists these days – there aren’t enough of them in the country. There’s a huge shortage of psychiatrists that is getting worse, so even finding mental health hospitals with the right professionals who will meet with inmates outside a correctional institution becomes difficult.
Telepsychiatry can effectively solve these problems. It can provide correctional institutions with an opportunity to deliver proper mental health care to the inmates who need it, anytime they need it, without actually bringing a psychiatrist to the facility, or transporting inmates to the nearest mental health center – which can be an incredible risk.
Telepsychiatry eliminates these numerous risks for the inmate and prison staff, as inmates stay inside the prison walls while receiving the effective mental health care they need.
Benefits of Telepsychiatry Services for Correctional Institutions
By now it’s certainly clear how telepsychiatry can benefit your correctional facility. But let’s go over the exact benefits in detail.
Reduced Risk of Untreated Mental Illnesses
If you don’t provide treatment for the mentally ill inmates in your institution, you risk creating a much bigger problem. They could potentially hurt themselves and others, including your staff. Getting them the right treatment will improve their health, and consequently the well-being of everyone in the facility.
Safe and Secure Psychiatric Consultations
Telepsychiatry eliminates the need to hire on-site psychiatrists or move mentally ill inmates to the nearest mental health centers to get them the treatment they need. You can now simply video call a clinician at any given time and enable them to provide the right assistance without any endangerment.
Better Access to Expert Psychiatric Services
Given the dramatic shortage of psychiatrists in the country, it’s not easy finding one with the right expertise and experience to deal with criminal offenders struggling with mental health illnesses. With telepsychiatry, you have access to a nationwide network of psychiatrists who are experts in their field.
This also helps your detention officers focus better on their core competencies – making sure your correctional facility is safe and secure. Officers will not have to spend hours transporting inmates to and from mental health facilities.
innovaTel Correctional Facility Telepsychiatry
innovaTel has access to a wide network of psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and licensed clinical social workers from all over the world. We can easily connect you to a huge number of certified clinicians who can help you make your correctional institution safer.
We have HIPAA-compliant, easy-to-use, secure technology at our disposal to help you find psychiatrists who will be the perfect match for your organization. We’re here to help you recruit the best talent, and seamlessly streamline the implementation of new team members and technology.
You don’t have to worry about obtaining your chosen clinicians’ state licenses, DEA, benefits, and malpractice insurance. We’ll handle that for you. We’ll also cover the recruitment costs.
If you have any questions about our telepsychiatry services, or you need a trustworthy partner for assistance in treating your mentally ill inmates, don’t hesitate to give us a call. Contact us today and let us help you make your correctional facility a safer place for everyone in it.
