Dr. Allison Sikorsky, PMHNP, founded At Your Service Telepsychiatry in 2017 and is licensed in more than twenty states, bringing together seasoned psychiatric clinicians so patients never face a lapse in treatment. She chose Spruce after testing a dozen secure SMS and phone options, because it worked best for a group practice she could run from her phone. The team gives clients a number to text instead of playing phone tag, backs up contractors by keeping an eye on their inboxes for refills and records requests, uses after-hours auto-responders for emergencies, and even coordinates care with other practices on Spruce. Her virtual assistant in the Philippines works remotely through it too. Spruce brings texting, calling, secure messaging, and team coordination into one place a distributed practice can run from anywhere.<\/p>\n
At Your Service Telepsychiatry is a multi-state, telepsychiatry group practice designed to deliver competent, patient-centered treatment to those struggling with ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, and other mental health conditions. We brought together a group of smart, seasoned, compassionate psychiatric nurse practitioners and psychiatric prescribing clinicians to serve the wider community so no one has to suffer from a lapse in treatment.<\/p>\n
I started this telepsychiatry practice in 2017, but have been practicing as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner since 2011.<\/p>\n
When I set out to start my telepsychiatry practice, I wanted to give clients an opportunity to text us versus playing phone tag, which is one of the most frustrating parts of psychiatric practice. Before Covid, this wasn\u2019t very standard practice, so I tested a dozen other secure SMS\/phone options, but found that Spruce Health has been the best for a group practice and one that can be easily run off a phone.<\/p>\n
We give clients our number to text in or send emails. If people prefer the double-encryption, they are instructed to download the Spruce Health app. With so many mental health practices using Spruce Health, we also use it to collaborate care with these other practices. For our contractors, we can keep an eye on their inboxes and support them as their back up on-call, help with refills, and records requests. I use the after-hours auto responders for emergencies and to direct patients where to call. My virtual assistant is from the Philippines, so she can work remotely with us using Spruce. The dot phrase feature helps to have consistent language to send out to patients, pharmacies, and over faxes.<\/p>\n
I really like the scheduled message feature. If I am titrating up a patient\u2019s dose of medication, I can send them a reminder in two weeks to double the dose. If I am concerned with a patient\u2019s mental health status, I can schedule a check-in text to make sure they are starting to feel better on the medication in-between visits. I also use the star feature to notate anyone who has had a recent mental health crisis, so we can flag the staff to answer their messages rapidly.<\/p>\n
My new favorite feature is the beta feature of integrating with other electronic health records, as I am building a telepsychiatry practice management, prescribing, and artificial intelligence application, and look forward to it working with Spruce.<\/p>\n
As the mom of three teenage boys, I am usually out watching wrestling matches and drifting events. Most of my free time is spent building my telepsychiatry app, and playing on TikTok, but you might catch me roller skating around when there\u2019s no snow on the ground.<\/p>\n
How can a distributed psychiatry team use Spruce to stay coordinated?<\/strong> Can a virtual assistant and contractors work in Spruce from anywhere?<\/strong> Can I schedule messages to patients in Spruce?<\/strong> Is Spruce HIPAA-compliant?<\/strong> You can learn even more about At Your Service Telepsychiatry on Facebook at @yourservicepsychiatry<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
\nA practice can give patients one number to text instead of playing phone tag, and back up contractors by keeping an eye on their inboxes to help with refills, records requests, and on-call coverage. After-hours auto-responders handle emergencies and direct patients where to call, and practices can even collaborate on shared patients with other teams that use Spruce.<\/p>\n
\nYes. A virtual assistant can work remotely through Spruce from anywhere in the world, and contractors can be supported by having their inboxes covered as on-call backup. A team that rarely shares a zip code can still coordinate patient communication in one place.<\/p>\n
\nYes. Scheduled messages let a provider queue up a reminder for later, like prompting a patient to increase a medication dose after a titration period, or sending a check-in text between visits to see how someone’s doing on a new medication.<\/p>\n
\nSpruce supports HIPAA-compliant communications across phone, texting, faxing, and telehealth. Every eligible Spruce organization automatically receives a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA) as part of the terms of service, with no separate agreement, opt-in, or additional fees required. You electronically agree to the Spruce BAA when you create an organization on Spruce, and you can review this agreement in our terms of service.<\/p>\n