A New Online Marketplace for Mental Health Services Launches Allowing Individuals To Access Therapy Sessions Through Videoconferencing
Marlton, NJ (PRWEB) January 15, 2015 -- The future of mental and behavioral health care is here. Inpathy, a new online marketplace for behavioral health services, is making it easier than ever to connect with providers for online therapy and behavioral health sessions through real-time videoconferencing.
Using Inpathy’s provider directory individuals are able to pick a provider who fits their schedule, needs and personality and access sessions at a time and location that is convenient for them. Most users connect to Inpathy from their home computers.
There are 28 providers now offering online sessions through Inpathy with about 100 additional providers in the onboarding process. The providers currently accepting patients on Inpathy include psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, social workers and psychiatric nurse practitioners with a wide range of specialties.
Many of the providers offer nighttime and weekend sessions.
“Inpathy has allowed me to expand the reach of my practice to people who have mobility issues, anxiety around commuting or those who just don’t have the time to get to their in-person appointments,” says Jeanine Miles, a New Jersey licensed professional counselor.
Users can book appointments with any provider who is licensed in the state where they live. Right now, the majority of the providers are licensed in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, California and North Carolina along with 11 other states. The Inpathy team anticipates having providers serving all 50 states in the next 3 months.
“Inpathy has garnered a lot of interest from talented providers who want to be pioneers in this budding industry,” explains Inpathy Executive Director Geoffrey Boyce. “Plus, the flexibility of telehealth and opportunity to conduct sessions from home is an appealing convenience for anyone.”
To use Inpathy, users need a private space and a strong internet connection. The Inpathy team offers live technical support as well as a myriad of instructional videos to ensure that everyone is able to connect successfully.
“Using Inpathy is easy. If I can do it, anybody can!” laughs Miles.
Each provider sets their own rates which range from around $30- $100 for a therapy session to $150-$300 per hour for a session with a psychiatrist. Most providers also offer short meet and greet sessions at low or no cost so that providers and consumers can do a non-clinical introduction before deciding to establish a formal patient-provider relationship.
In the future, leaders at Inpathy anticipate that insurance companies will begin to reimburse for online sessions as they do for in-person appointments. For now, Inpathy appointments are not covered by insurance and users pay securely by credit card. There is no membership obligation or registration fee for consumers; they simply pay for each individual session. If users wish, they can download receipts from Inpathy and submit them directly to their insurance company, though reimbursement depends on individual coverage.
“Inpathy users love the convenience of online sessions,” explains Dr. Varrell, Medical Director of Inpathy. “They don’t have to miss work or school to commute to an appointment. They don’t have to waste their time sitting in a waiting room, and they don’t have to worry about running into their neighbors as they walk out of a tough therapy session.”
In addition to the convenience of telebehavioral health, there are a number of clinical benefits as well. A search on the effectiveness of this type of treatment, often called telemental health and telepsychiatry returns hundreds of clinical research studies with positive results.
“I am a child and adolescent psychiatrist and have been doing televideo sessions with people for the past 15 years,” says Dr. Varrell. “I have found that many people and children in particular are able to talk to me more easily through televideo than in-person. Its more comfortable, less intimidating and it removes some of the power dynamics, so people are more likely to open up more quickly.”
InSight Telepsychiatry and the CFG Health Network, the companies behind Inpathy, have been delivering telepsychiatry into clinics, hospitals, correctional facilities and other health care service sites since 1999.
“Inpathy is a game changer for behavioral health care accessibility,” says Inpathy CEO Les Paschall, “Our team is dedicated to increasing access to quality behavioral health care through innovative uses of technology, and we are enthused about the opportunity to now bring care into new locations through Inpathy.”
With Inpathy, users are able to be involved in their care in a whole new way.
“When a person has easier to access care, it is easier for them to manage their own wellness and stay on top of their mental and physical health,” explains Boyce. “We are excited about what Inpathy is doing to empower individuals.”
Olivia Boyce, Inpathy, http://www.inpathy.com, +1 (770) 713-4161, [email protected]
Share this article