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I previously worked in psychiatry and in this post-COVID world, most of my patients preferred telemedicine. This is a great tool for psychiatry patients as it increases access to psychiatric providers. However, legally, I was only allowed to see the patient via telemedicine if they were also in Texas at the time of the telemedicine appointment. This means if they went on vacation out of state for a week, I was not allowed to do a patient encounter while they were out of state.
Secondly, I had a patient that I had worked with for a while that had finally gained my trust and was getting better with our treatment plan. However, she decided to move back to her home state. She requested that I still provide her psychiatric care but I informed her I could not. I prescribed enough medication for up to 3 months and advised her to find a new provider. As we all know, mental health care services are in short supply.
Sadly, I do not know if she was able to find a new provider successfully but I imagine even if she did, there was likely a lengthy wait to establish care with a new provider. The interstate license compact would eliminate this issue and I could have kept treating her. This is just one of many stories that truly impact patient care.
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