Question 1

What are the benefits of telepsychiatry?

Accepted Answer

In addition to the obvious benefit of being able to see a mental health professional while under quarantine, telepsychiatry offers many additional advantages to traditional mental health care. Telepsychiatry can be much more economically feasible for many individuals who are unable to afford mental health care. Seeing a doctor from the comfort of your home eliminates the need to deal with travel, lost work hours, childcare, and other expenses that may arise from the need to travel to a specific location. It can also lead to lower co-pays by reducing overhead costs for mental healthcare providers.

Telepsychiatry also brings mental health care to regions that are currently under-served, such as rural areas. Not every locale has licensed, available mental healthcare professionals, and telepsychiatry allows qualified professionals to treat patients anywhere they can find an internet connection.

Moreover, telepsychiatry can help to escape some of the stigma associated with mental health care. Patients do not need to drive to a hospital or medical office and sit in a waiting room with strangers while at their most vulnerable. Instead, patients can simply log on and connect directly with their mental healthcare professionals.

If you are an administrator of a health system or a healthcare provider in need of a way to deliver mental health services, [reach out to Orbit Health](https://www.orbithealth.com/contact-us/) to discuss how telepsychiatry can expand your options for healthcare delivery and meet the needs of patients in today’s challenging environment.

Question 2

Why are mental health problems pervasive in correctional facilities?

Accepted Answer

There is a growing scientific consensus that proper mental health care is one of the most important parts of rehabilitation for incarcerated individuals.  Mental health treatment is one of the most effective components in reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses.  Although mental health disorders are neither a necessary nor a sufficient factor in either criminal activity or violence, mental health issues undoubtedly contribute to the likelihood of running afoul of the law.

In the United States, there are more mentally ill people in correctional facilities than there are in mental health hospitals.  Many criminal offenders struggle with mental illness and wind up in a correctional facility, and many incarcerated individuals develop psychological conditions as a result of their confinement.  The rate of mental illness in prisons may be as high as two to four times greater than in the general public.

Providing proper mental health services to people in jails, prisons, halfway houses and other facilities helps everyone.  Inmates get the psychiatric care that they need to become more productive members of society. In addition, the risk of suicide and other dangers can be mitigated, and healthy inmates are less likely to be involved in altercations with guards or other inmates while incarcerated.

By giving your correctional facility access to telepsychiatry, you can provide the mental health care that your inmates both need and deserve, without incurring the risk, inconvenience, and cost of either transporting inmates to treatment centers or transporting mental health professionals to your institution.

Question 3

How can telepsychiatry help your correctional facility?

Accepted Answer

Orbit Health brings the most qualified mental health professionals right to your facility, without the need for in-person contact.  Telepsychiatry allows your facility access to qualified, capable psychiatrists, including specialists in the field of incarceration, located anywhere around the country.  Telepsychiatry offers benefits such as:

* You are not limited to the services of the nearest mental health treatment center.
* Doctors are not put at risk by being placed in direct contact with inmates.
* Increased access, including compliance with state and federal health regulations, at a reduced cost.
* Reduced gaps in care: Get help from experts in post-traumatic stress disorder, incarceration, violence, gender transition, and any other specific issues faced by your inmates.

Question 4

What is #endthecycle? Why provide mental health care throughout the legal system?

Accepted Answer

The sad reality is that jails and prisons have become the new asylums.  According to the [Treatment Advocacy Center](https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/evidence-and-research/learn-more-about/3695), 383,000 individuals with severe psychiatric disease were behind bars in the United States in 2014- roughly equivalent to the size of the city of Cleveland, Ohio.  It is tragic and unacceptable that many people who deserve mental health treatment are instead thrown behind bars where they are exposed to trauma and further deterioration.

At Orbit Health, we are determined to disrupt the cycle of mass incarceration of the mentally ill by inserting telepsychiatry at every stage of the criminal justice system.  This ensures that people who are vulnerable to incarceration have access to the right care at the right time.

Why is it important to provide mental health care throughout the legal system?  People who are in the active phase of a mental illness (psychotic, depressed, manic, etc), are not able to function appropriately within the legal system and can disrupt the courts and correctional facilities.  By contrast, when people are adequately treated for the mental illness, they are better able to navigate within the legal system, care for themselves, and stay out of trouble.

Perhaps most importantly, we have an ethical obligation to take care of our fellow man to reduce suffering and protect our communities.  Orbit Health is there to help people get the care they need, whether it is at the time of arrest, in court, behind bars, or on parole.

At Orbit Health, we believe that a healthier person means a healthier society.  Its time to #endthecycle of mass incarceration of the mentally ill.

Question 5

How can Orbit Health help your forensic evaluations?

Accepted Answer

Orbit Health brings qualified expert witnesses directly to your conference room and courthouse.

Many legal matters, both civil and criminal, turn on the opinions offered by expert witnesses. Whether a case involves the damaging effects of personal injury, the reasonableness of a medical professional’s diagnosis and treatment, or the proper operation of a piece of complicated machinery, expert opinions often form the backbone of each party’s arguments to the judge and jury. Experts in the field of forensic psychiatry, in particular, are necessary for a wide variety of legal matters.

Not every jurisdiction has access to every type of expert, however.  Some parties and some matters cannot justify the expense of flying a medical professional thousands of miles to draft an opinion and testify. Moreover, with limitations imposed during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and other natural disasters, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to bring an expert to the locale where a matter is taking place. Thankfully, with the use of telecommunications, you can now bring the expert to your conference meeting or courtroom immediately, efficiently, and with much less cost.

Orbit Health connects the best and brightest forensic psychiatric specialists from around the country to litigants in need of expert opinions and testimony, no matter their location, without all the extra expense and complication of travel.

If you have a pending legal matter that would benefit from advice, opinion or testimony from a qualified psychiatric expert, you do not need to rely on whoever happens to be located nearby.  It does not matter if there are no such experts in your area.  Orbit Health will connect you with a qualified, professional, and effective forensic psychiatric expert, transmitted to any location that has internet access.  Reach out to Orbit Health to discuss your options for telepsychiatry today.

Question 6

What is Forensic Psychiatry?

Accepted Answer

Forensic psychiatry is a branch of medicine at the intersection of psychiatry and the law. Forensic psychiatrists are often hired by lawyers and judges to act as expert witnesses for both criminal and civil cases. They conduct psychiatric evaluations and offer opinions about how mental health issues relate to the case. Forensic psychiatrists can also be utilized as consultants to other doctors or administrators of organizations.

Forensic psychiatrists are in short supply, and it is often difficult to find one close by. Geographical distances can cause evaluation delays and involve expensive travel costs. With Orbit Health, the most qualified and experienced forensic psychiatrists can be added to your legal team, no matter your location, and on a much more reasonable budget.

Question 7

How can forensic telepsychiatry help your case? Which forensic issues?

Accepted Answer

In many cases, forensic evaluations and testimony can be accomplished remotely via videoconferencing. Forensic telepsychiatry makes sense, and it saves time and money. Attorneys and judges are increasingly accepting of the concept of forensic telepsychiatry as a convenient and effective way to utilize expert testimony.

Orbit Health can provide teleforensic experts to help sort through the following forensic issues:

* **Competency to Stand Trial.** In matters involving criminal defendants or other parties who lack mental capacity, a forensic psychiatrist can evaluate whether the party possesses the mental faculties necessary to stand trial on their own behalf.
* **Insanity Defense/ Criminal responsibility.** Crimes of passion often turn on the mental state of the defendant.  A forensic psychiatrist can evaluate whether a defendant possessed the mental capacity to understand the consequences and morality of their actions, or whether they should be subject to a lesser penalty or alternative treatments instead.
* **Civil Commitment/ Involuntary treatment.** Forensic psychiatrists evaluate whether individuals could pose a danger to themselves or others in order to inform a court’s decision as to the wisdom and morality of involuntary commitment to a psychiatric institution. A remote telepsychiatrist can perform an evaluation of an elderly or disabled individual and offer an opinion as to their mental capacity.  Such opinions form the basis of whether an adult or elderly person should be placed under the legal care of another.
* **Competency to Make Treatment Decisions.** End of life care is complicated at the best of times.  When an injured or ill person appears to lack the ability to make competent decisions about their own health, it is important to have a psychiatrist evaluate their mental faculties and their emotional state.  This can be accomplished remotely via telepsychiatry, wherever the patient is located.
* **Worker’s Compensation and Torts.** Injured parties, whether they suffer a physical injury, a psychological injury, or both, require expert evaluation and testimony to prove or disprove their case.  A forensic telepsychiatrist can evaluate the extent of their injuries and the emotional trauma connected thereto. Forensic psychiatrists can provide vital insight and opinion as to whether an injured worker possesses the capacity to return to work or should instead qualify for disability benefits.
* **Violence Risk Assessment.** Judges often rely on forensic psychiatrists to evaluate the propensity of a defendant for violent action when deciding upon bail.  With telepsychiatry, your defendant will have access to the most qualified and most neutral evaluation in order to ensure that the principles of justice are not violated.
* **Child custody and visitation.** Child psychiatrists can play a vital role in determining the healthiest placement for children of divorce.  With Orbit Health, the best child psychiatrists can be brought in remotely for an unobtrusive evaluation and opinion.
* **Psychic injury.** A forensic psychiatrist can remotely evaluate a plaintiff following a traumatic event to establish the extent of their emotional trauma and provide an expert, reasoned opinion as to the severity of their psychic injury, all without the expense of flying a medical professional to your location.
* **Mental disability.** Disability is available for mental and emotional disorders as well as physical ailments.  Telepsychiatrists can remotely evaluate applicants regarding whether they are capable of working or should instead receive disability benefits.
* **Malpractice cases often turn on the credibility of each side’s expert:**  Was the medical professional’s conduct appropriate, or did they violate standards and norms?  With telepsychiatry, the strength of your expert opinion will not depend solely on which licensed psychiatrists simply happen to be in your region.
* **Juvenile justice.** Experts are often employed in cases involving juveniles to establish the mindset and maturity of juvenile defendants and opine on whether they should be tried as adults
* **Other issues:** Probate/ Testamentary Capacity/ Undue Influence; Defense Base Act (workman’s comp for military contractors); Sentence Mitigation;  Personal Injury;  PTSD;  TBI (traumatic brain injury); IME (Independent Medical Examinations);  Fitness for Duty;  Sexual Assault; Sexual Harassment; Immigration (Asylum, Trafficking T-Visa, VAWA);  Intoxication/ DUI/ DFSA (Date Rape); Suicide