The importance of community health centers is becoming increasingly apparent as COVID-19 continues to spread. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are essential to rural and underserved populations to help decrease health disparities. The main goal of FQHCs is to empower underserved areas with high-quality patient care. In 2018, health centers served over 28 million patients – a 31 percent increase in only 5 years. Keeping these community health centers strong and open is essential for community health during a pandemic.
Many FQHCs are experiencing financial difficulty this year, resulting in layoffs and increasing the workload and stress level for those caring for patients. In past years, an average of 44% of physicians experienced burnout. It’s likely that number will substantially increase this year with the added stress that COVID-19 brings to our medical communities and home life. The symptoms of burnout include headaches, insomnia, exhaustion, apathy, irritability, and depression. As many as 68% of physicians have not sought out care for these symptoms.
Keeping Providers Healthy Is Essential For Us All
Those of us in the caring professions often expend a significant amount of energy looking after other people. This often results in care professionals overlooking their own care and needs. MindCare wants to help clinicians be the best they can be so that they can do what they love, which is care for others.
Seeing patients, completing paperwork, and running a practice can leave little time for spouses and children, let alone self-care.
Dedicated as they are, health professionals are no stranger to burnout, and work-life balance may seem unachievable. Seeing patients, completing paperwork, and running a practice can leave little time for spouses and children, let alone self-care. Medical professionals are faced with high-stress situations, and the stakes are even higher in light of a global pandemic.
As the saying goes, you can’t pour from an empty cup. Thus, promoting better mental health and more importantly, providing access to mental health care, will improve providers’ lives and positively impact the care they provide patients.
Telepsychiatry Can Help Clinicians Achieve Better Mental Health
MindCare is partnering with FQHCs around the country to help clinicians through this tough time with the Well at Work program. Through this program, we are offering clinicians the opportunity to schedule an appointment with one of our behavioral health specialists. Through Well at Work, clinicians can discuss their symptoms with a trained health specialists who will create an effective treatment plan and walk them through how to achieve better mental health.
Well at Work is offered through our secure telepsychiatry platform so our providers can be here for clinicians whenever and wherever they are needed. No matter if you are covering the night shift or working long days, MindCare’s team is here to help. By using telepsychiatry, providers can receive the care they need from the comfort of their own home. All our sessions are conducted in the strictest of confidence in our HIPAA compliant platform, so you can rest assured that your care is in good hands.
Well at Work’s first partnership is with the Texas Association of Community Health Centers (TACHC). In light of the stress placed on our medical community from COVID-19, MindCare worked with TACHC to ensure employees could access the Well at Work service at no cost to them, and we hope to expand the program to more FQHCs around the country.
As the leading provider of telepsychiatry, MindCare is proud to help the medical community and patients alike achieve better mental health. Through our partnerships with healthcare organizations, MindCare’s team provides best-in-class care and end-to-end behavioral health services around the country. Implementing MindCare’s services has improved access to care, increased patient flow, enhanced patient and provider satisfaction, and reduced client costs.
If you would like to learn how you can bring Well at Work to your FQHC, please contact Jennifer Wood at jwood@mindcaresolutions.com.
