The Hybrid Model: New Normal or Unstable Transition Phase?

ROBERT CAUDILL, M.D., & PETER YELLOWLEES, M.D., M.B.B.S

Before the world ground to a halt in an effort to contain the COVID-19 virus, the hybrid model of telepsychiatry was envisioned as a means of encouraging greater adoption of telehealth. With hybrid care, psychiatrists could connect in person with patients in the clinic as well as virtually with those at home or in community settings. Most of those practicing telepsychiatry divided their time between seeing patients in person and online, but they did not move their practice out of their clinics. Instead, a portion of the established caseload was strategically offered a virtual care option after some degree of screening and orientation of the patients. While slow at first, the adoption of a hybrid model of telepsychiatry was making gradual inroads among psychiatrists, where it was seen as having little threat to the overturning of more traditional workflows. Read more!