Team Dover offers new medical service Published June 9, 2015 By Col. Kevin Murphy 436th Medical Group commander DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Today's world is quickly becoming filled with state of the art technology and the Dover Air Force Base Mental Health Clinic is leading the way! Did you know the Air Force provides tele-psychiatry services around the world, including in theater? Tele-psychiatry services utilize computer and video camera operating systems to allow patients and their providers to communicate from one location to another, even across time zones. Tele-psychiatry is extremely important for bases that do not have a psychiatrist on staff or if the only psychiatrist goes on leave, deploys, becomes ill, or the installation outgrows patient appointment availability. Without a psychiatrist available, a medical treatment facility will have limited capabilities for prescribing psychotropic medications for patients who require them to perform at their fullest potential. Without psychiatry services patients have to rely on other options. The patients may have to use their primary care provider, which is not as well versed in anxiety, depression, phobias, posttraumatic stress symptoms, other psychological disorders and/or associated psychotropic medications. The lack of on-base psychiatry support may result in the patient not being able to receive the appropriate diagnosis and/or medications and may result in a delayed entry into therapy programs that will help the patient thrive and recover as soon as possible. Therefore, the patient will possibly continue to suffer and not understand why their medication is not working or why they are having certain side effects and what to do about it. Another possible option is for the patient to be referred off base into a local off-base community care setting. While lots of patients desire the local off-base community care setting option, it holds a few setbacks, especially for active duty members. Some of the setbacks include: taking months to get an initial appointment, limited amount of providers that take TRICARE, availability, distance, etc... For active duty members there is also the issue of getting information back to the base to make sure they can deploy and maintain security clearances. Also, off-base community mental health providers do not understand our Air Force Instructions and guidelines when it comes to flying, waivers, duty limiting clearances, medical evaluation boards, fitness for duty, etc. All of these issues can compile and create a paperwork nightmare and inflict more stress upon the active duty member and their loved ones. Another reason off-base community care is not feasible is the exorbitant cost associated with it, initial appointments run anywhere from $113 to $146 with follow-up visits ranging from $52 to $112. So far the use of tele-psychiatry has saved more than $15,000 in referrals. Thanks to Senior Airman Anesha Richards, mental health technician, and the dedicated mental health staff at Dover AFB, Dover was the first and is the largest Tele-Psychiatry base in the Air Force to convert to the new Vidyo Gateway system. Vidyo Gateway is the most technologically advanced system and provides a level of security not found in the previous systems. Additionally, Vidyo Gateway enables the mental health clinic to link multiple bases together for a video teleconference, thus improving patient continuity of care and patient care meetings. This will allow patients transitioning from in-theater operations through Germany to the United States a smoother and more closely supported move across the world. It will also enable more timely care with the end result of happier patients. Dover Air Force Base 436th Medical Group is always striving to provide premiere care for your family and ours.