The Consultation
Project
| In recognition
of the Consultation Project, Area 1 of the APA Assembly has
nominated MAPP to receive the Assembly's 2005 DB Best Practice
Award.Read more... |
Maine is a
predominantly rural state, with a population of 1.2 million. Most
of the 300 psychiatrists are geographically concentrated in the
lower quarter of the state, leaving family practitioners and other
primary care providers throughout the state without access to
psychiatric consultation. The Maine Association of Psychiatric Physicians is
attempting to address this problem with an innovative program
called The Consultation Project.
Developed
in collaboration with the Maine Academy of Family Physicians,
the program links volunteer psychiatrists with rural primary care
practices. An ongoing consultative relationship is developed,
in which the rural practitioner calls on the psychiatrist as needed
for advice and guidance. The contacts are by telephone or email,
and are in the nature of "informal consultations" rather
than treatment or supervision. Cases which cannot be handled by
informal contacts are referred to a state-wide telepsychiatry
initiative, which provides a "face-to-face" consultation
that is reported back to the practitioner and the consultant.
What is novel
about the Consultation Project is the ongoing relationship between
consultant and consultee, which allows them to develop a shared
body of experience, as well as the opportunity to consult on cases
over time. The project is just being implemented, and already
18 psychiatrists have volunteered to participate. This has been
a very positive demonstration to primary care providers that the
psychiatric community is able to respond to their needs. We anticipate
that more volunteers will join as the project proceeds, and that
many consultants will cover multiple practices, allowing a substantial
impact on the ability of primary care practitioners to provide
quality psychiatric treatment across the state.
MAPP Consultation Project: Orientation Letter and Agreement
Maine Academy
of Family Physicians web site: http://www.maineafp.org
