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A nationwide scarcity of psychiatrists has created an surroundings the place wait occasions to be seen by knowledgeable might be lengthy and billing might be Byzantine. This may spell catastrophe for some who’ve psychological well being points that want pressing addressing.
Recognizing this problem, psychiatrist Dr. Asad Mehdi and emergency doctor Dr. Sophia Khan co-founded UrgentPsych, a brand new psychological well being pressing care facility in Chamblee that opened earlier this yr. It’s considered one of just a few of its type within the nation and the primary of its type in Georgia. “We are attempting to lower boundaries and open up entry to psychological well being companies,” Kahn says.
She notes that one in 4 individuals may have some form of psychological well being dysfunction or sickness. When mixed with the truth that Georgia has ranked forty eighth out of fifty by way of entry to psychological well being assets, it may be a grim panorama, however one which UrgentPsych hopes to alter.
{Photograph} courtesy of UrgentPsych
The workers can deal with all the things from new-onset despair to medicine changes to care for individuals who could also be considering suicide. UrgentPsych takes all main insurance coverage together with Medicare and Medicaid. “We even take sufferers who don’t have insurance coverage and put them on a sliding scale,” Khan says. No appointment is important to see a health care provider, and so they deal with sufferers age 5 and up.“Half of who we see are pediatric sufferers,” says Khan, who says the problems seen in grownup psychiatry are tenfold in pediatrics.
There’s an in-house laboratory for bloodwork to verify that somebody is experiencing a psychological well being disaster and never one other medical situation, and the surroundings is extra welcoming than clinical-style pressing care amenities. There are recliners, iPads, snacks, respite rooms, sensory rooms, and even an area for yoga to make an intimidating expertise extra snug. “That is the evolution of psychological healthcare,” she says.
In an emergency room setting, it might take as much as 24 hours for a affected person to be positioned in an inpatient psychiatric unit. UrgentPsych can do it inside 6 hours, says Dr. Khan. “We have now a relationship with psychiatric amenities for inpatient drugs in order that we will switch and transport if somebody does should be admitted.”
Along with the Chamblee location, the duo plans on opening 5 extra amenities round metro Atlanta.
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