COVID-19: The Advent of Virtual Psychiatry

Author(s):

Key Takeaways

Virtual medicine has improved access to psychiatric consultations by overcoming geographical barriers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. John J. Miller emphasizes the irreplaceable value of in-person psychiatric consultations, highlighting the sensory and personal connections they provide.
While acknowledging the utility of virtual treatment, Dr. Miller considers it suboptimal compared to traditional face-to-face interactions in psychiatric practice.

COVID-19 increased the usage of telemedicine drastically, but is that always a good thing?

"Virtual medicine allowed for a lot of really high-quality consultations that used to be difficult due to geographical barriers and distance," said John J. Miller, MD, said about COVID-19's impact on the practice of psychiatry at the Real Psychiatry meeting.

However, Miller is hesitant to fully commit to exclusive virtual psychiatric practice. A lot gets lost when you go from an in-person visit with a patient, when you are breathing the same air, you can smell them in the room, and you walk your patients to the office, to virtual practice.

"My own view is that the 2-dimensional world of virtual treatment is useful and has an important role, but is suboptimal," said Miller. "Nothing can replace an in-person visit with the patient."

Dr Miller is Medical Director, Brain Health, Exeter, New Hampshire; Editor in Chief,Psychiatric Times; Staff Psychiatrist, Seacoast Mental Health Center, Exeter; Consulting Psychiatrist, Insight Meditation Society, Barre, Massachusetts.