I am pleased to announce the opening of our downtown St Petersburg psychiatry office. Throughout the pandemic, we saw a very high rate of relapse and exacerbations of depression, anxiety, and essentially all psychiatric symptoms. Thankfully, we were able to continue our operations through use of telemedicine (audio/video communication for medical visits). Nearly all major health insurers provided coverage of the use of telemedicine, and some even waived co-pays/co-insurance payments.
We chose to open our second location in St Petersburg, where there is a shortage of psychiatric practitioners. In fact, the state of Florida is lacking in psychiatrists and this problem is growing year by year. Unfortunately, most outpatient psychiatrists in Pinellas County do not accept health insurance, which makes it even more difficult for people to have psychiatric care.
Our practice model, which includes acceptance of all major health insurance plans, has thrived through two key factors: the passion of our staff and health care providers, and the use of technology to streamline the vast majority of day to day operations. The latter allows us to spend less time on charting, more time with our patients, and facilitates direct communication between patient and provider between visits.
Our expansion includes the addition of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which is a medical device used to treat depression. It has been a major breakthrough in psychiatry. We have added an expert nurse practitioner, Lindsey Brogdan, who has been in practice since 2014, to our roster in both of our offices. I will also be seeing patients in our St Petersburg location and in Tampa. We are looking to hire another board-certified psychiatrist who will be in St Petersburg full-time.
Recent vaccine developments have been extremely promising. We hope that as society at large can return to work, enjoy socializing, and once again partake in their passions, that the psychiatric consequences of this pandemic will ease. We will continue to see patients remotely via telemedicine and hope to resume normal office conditions in early to mid-2021. We are hoping to continue the use of telemedicine thereafter for folks that find it convenie
