Telepsychiatry has the potential to address the shortage of psychiatrists available to provide treatment for patients with opioid use disorders. Telepsychiatry is now becoming accessible, particularly as state laws, and standards and guidelines are being generated to create a foundation of how to implement telepsychiatry into a local community. Telepsychiatry can increase the access to the limited number of physicians who can prescribe buprenorphine and/or any other medications used for addictive disorders. Telepsychiatry has become an affordable, secure and viable treatment option (especially now that some insurance companies cover these services) for essentially anyone who has access to basic technology to connect with a provider. Laws like The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 were created to regulate online internet prescriptions, is enforced by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) and also imposes rules around the prescription of controlled substances through telepsychiatry (live interactive videoconferencing).
Access Telepsychiatry’s Role in Medication Assisted Treatment.