Your Questions
If I choose to partner with Psych360, how would we get started and what is involved?
Partnering with Psych360 is a great choice for your residents, your community, and yourself. The process involves 3 simple steps:
1) We’ll meet in-person or virtually to discuss your community’s individual needs.
2) We’ll put an agreement in place for mental health services and you’ll give notice to your current provider if needed.
3) We’ll conduct a thorough on-boarding process to ensure we have a great start to our partnership.
Why is it important I choose the right mental health care provider to partner with?
Choosing the right mental health care provider can mean the difference between your peace of mind and countless problems ranging from citations, census loss, staff burnout, residents’ suffering, family complaints, and more. The costs for not partnering with the right mental health care provider can be quite high.
What other services does Psych360 provide?
We are 100% focused on mental health care in long-term care communities like yours. It’s all we do. Behavioral health services isn’t just an add-on to our core services. And our Providers aren’t practicing in an in-patient setting while moonlighting in your community.
Will partnering with Psych360 improve my quality scores?
Our goal is to help any community we partner with improve their quality scores. By reducing the use of antipsychotic and psychotropic medications along with proactively addressing GDRs on every visit, your community’s quality scores can potentially improve.
When will my Provider’s notes be available after a Visit?
Typically you will have access to all of your Provider’s notes and documentation within 24 hours after a visit. There may be situations where additional information is needed before your Provider can complete their notes, but your Provider will strive to have all documentation available as soon as possible.
Where will I see my Provider’s notes and how can I access them?
If your community has PointClickCare integration, your Provider’s notes will be in your resident’s PCC chart. All notes and documentation are accessible anytime through our HIPAA-compliant, cloud-based portal called CareTeam. As an added convenience, all documentation in CareTeam can be downloaded as a .pdf document for ease of access during state survey.
What if I have an emergency after normal work hours?
Psych360 offers 24/7 emergency on-call services to mitigate hospitalizations. Our Providers utilize both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions to keep your residents in your community when possible. There may be times when hospitalization is the appropriate course of action but it’s never our first choice.
If my Provider comes to my location in-person, why is your telehealth option important?
Telehealth options are extremely helpful for any new admissions that need mental health care between in-person visits. In addition, telehealth visits mean that mental health care can be provided in emergencies and also during COVID-related situations.
How many of my residents should I refer to Psych360? What is a typical caseload?
This can clearly vary between each community based on a variety of factors but typically 65% to 91% of your residents could be appropriate for a referral to Psych360. How do we arrive at that percentage? Nationally, the percentage of residents in a long-term care community that have been prescribed a psychotropic medication ranges from 65% to 91% so that is probably a good place to start. (Psychotropics include not just antipsychotics but also antidepressants, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics, hypnotics, etc.) A common mistake to avoid is to only consider referring residents with behaviors or to only consider residents that are prescribed antipsychotics.
I’m concerned about having my residents receiving additional antipsychotics or additional psychotropic medications so should I refer fewer residents to Psych360?
Our goal is to actually reduce the use of antipsychotic medications and overall psychotropic use. Your residents may have been prescribed psychotropic medications in an in-patient facility prior to coming to your community that may not be appropriate for use in a long-term care community. Your provider will look at all appropriate pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions to hopefully reduce the use of antipsychotic and psychotropic medications.
Do you address Gradual Dose Reductions (GDRs) and if so how often?
Your Provider will address GDRs on every visit. This is a required portion of your Provider’s documentation. And we work with your Pharmacy provider to ensure an interdisciplinary approach to GDRs that keep your community compliant.
When will my Provider visit my community? How often will my Provider show up unannounced?
We work closely with your staff to schedule consistent visits during days that are convenient for your community. Your Provider will never just show up unannounced. Not only do you have a Provider assigned to your community, but you also have a nurse account manager that specifically communicates with your staff to ensure visits are completed successfully.
What if something unforeseen happens to my Provider? Will my residents still receive the appropriate mental health care?
Although we want you to develop a great relationship with your Provider, we have an entire team of Board Certified Mental Health clinicians to utilize when needed. And all of our staff are employed by Psych360 – this means no agency staff or contractors.
Do you offer any training or education for my staff?
Yes! Your provider and nurse are always happy to provide education and answer questions from your staff. Additionally, we offer both webinars and in-service training that can be scheduled with your nurse. Let us know how we can help and we’re happy to put our resources to work for you.
