Why Telehealth is an Asset to Pediatric Mental Health Care

Being a parent means that sometimes you are being pulled in many different directions. There are some days when packing up the kids, stocking the diaper bag, and getting in the car just one more time can seem like an overwhelming task. This can be especially true when you’re heading off to a doctor’s appointment and you think to yourself:

“How long will I be in the waiting room for?”

“Will I be seen on time?”

“Is this appointment going to be worth it?”

“Am I going to be able to voice my concerns and be heard?”

This can be a frustrating train of thought and can make adding yet another provider appointment to your list make you question why you asked for a referral in the first place. For many parents across the country, they come to their child’s primary care provider with concerns for a mental or behavioral health change but also dread the answer just being handed a referral list with the phrase, “The wait list is usually about 3 months.”

While COVID did many things to our nation and our healthcare system, one of the benefits that came out of it was showing just how crucial telehealth services are for patients and their families. Video chats allowed providers to lay eyes on their patients without touching them, have check-ins with patients regarding their medication, and provide parents the face-to-face conversations they were looking for in order to communicate their concerns, despite all of the restrictions in place.

I will say that no matter the technology or the rising use of AI, there will never be a full replacement for in person visits overall. However, the use of options such as telehealth, when it comes to mental health care for children should be viewed as an opportunity rather than just giving into the technology era. There are many benefits to using telemedicine for pediatric health care including:

·       Increased accessibility to families in rural areas

·       Reduced anxiety for children who are nervous in healthcare settings

·       Allows for parents with busy schedules to still make their appointments easily

·       Decreased wait times between referrals and the initial evaluation

·       No travel or waiting rooms required

·       Allows for more personalized attention to the child and their family

·       Visits can be conducted regardless of weather, illness, or lack of transportation

·       Patients can be seen more frequently and visits can be tailored to fit the family’s schedule

·       Allows for better work life balance, especially with self-scheduling options

·       Decreased ER and/or Urgent Care visits with HIPAA compliant messaging apps

These are just a few of the perks that come with choosing a pediatric telehealth practice to help with your child’s mental and behavioral health concerns. Finding a practice that allows you to choose appointments that best benefits your child’s and family’s needs helps to ease some of the stress that comes with finding and choosing a provider you can trust. By increasing comfort, easing parental fears, and creating space for individualized care plans for children, we can start to make a much needed change in children’s health care and curb the rise of the mental health crisis.