[Teanne]

Why does there seem to such a shortage of mental health professionals in the last couple years? My psychiatrist moved away, and the clinic that I was going to refused to let anyone make anymore appointments. They said that they only had two psychiatrists and one nurse practitioner, so they would review all charts and decide who you were going to be assigned to. I had already seen one of the psychiatrists, and it was not a good fit for me. I knew that the nurse practitioner would not be able to handle my case as even the psychiatrists do not seem to be able to handle my treatment-resistant depression. I called the next largest city nearest me, and they said that they do not know anyone in the area who would take on new patients as there is a shortage of psychiatrists. What is going on?

[Nammu]

For sure there's a lack in the south and north of my state, MN. There's only one in my town and he's not taking on new patients. In the whole south of the state there's no Pdocs accepting new patients. I haven't any idea what's going on in the central twin cities area but it's a huge metro area and has many more Pdocs, but enough for the area, I don't know. The north of my state has a serious lack of any doctors.

Right now my PCP can call the one pdoc here if there's questions but that's it. Thankfully I'm stable have been for 3 yrs so all he has to do is continue the meds that were started in TX. I lived in a huge metro area there but Pdocs are hard to get especially on Medicare. I went through a community mental health unit, the docs were good but didn't stick around in three Ypres I had 6 docs.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Teanne

Why does there seem to such a shortage of mental health professionals in the last couple years? My psychiatrist moved away, and the clinic that I was going to refused to let anyone make anymore appointments. They said that they only had two psychiatrists and one nurse practitioner, so they would review all charts and decide who you were going to be assigned to. I had already seen one of the psychiatrists, and it was not a good fit for me. I knew that the nurse practitioner would not be able to handle my case as even the psychiatrists do not seem to be able to handle my treatment-resistant depression. I called the next largest city nearest me, and they said that they do not know anyone in the area who would take on new patients as there is a shortage of psychiatrists. What is going on?

no there isnt a shortage of treatment providers in my location. whats going on is that the federal law is all americans must have health insurance. with more people on private and state insurance plans they are able to get the treatment that they need. more people in treatment means waiting lists, and treatment providers on quota's of how many patients they are allowed to see. many state and private insurance companies now work like a clearing house / waiting list programs where they keep track of how many patients the treatment providers that accept their insurance plans have. then based on numbers they assign you a treatment provider that has not reached their quota of clients.

suggestion call your insurance company and see if they work that way. if so they will be able to tell you which treatment providers in your area that accept your insurance has "space" or is taking on more clients.

this will at least make the hunting a bit easier.

another suggestion contact the mental health agency that has decided not to "absorb" (take on the out going treatment providers clients) and ask them for a referral to another agency/ treatment provider. sometimes referrals will cut through the red tape at other places, not always but sometimes.

[*Laurie*]

A severe shortage in my town. At this point I have to do tele-appointments (like Skype) with a pdoc in another town because there simply aren't enough pdocs in my town. There truly IS a shortage of mental health professionals in the U.S., I've read about and heard about it. I don't know why, really, there is such a shortage. Perhaps it has to do with the difficulty and stress of dealing with mentally ill patients, and about insurance stuff. There are plenty of articles online about the shortage problem.

[Teanne]

Originally Posted by LauraBeth

A severe shortage in my town. At this point I have to do tele-appointments (like Skype) with a pdoc in another town because there simply aren't enough pdocs in my town. There truly IS a shortage of mental health professionals in the U.S., I've read about and heard about it. I don't know why, really, there is such a shortage. Perhaps it has to do with the difficulty and stress of dealing with mentally ill patients, and about insurance stuff. There are plenty of articles online about the shortage problem.

Hi LauraBeth ... A shortage in your town also? At least we haven't come to Skype appts. yet, but I have heard of that in some of the rural areas around us.

A friend of mine who works for a psychiatrist in a Southern state said they have a huge problem there also. In her doctor's case, it is due to the poor reimbursement...and I always thought psychiatrists got paid so well! Apparently they charge plenty, but don't always get reimbursed well. If that is what is going on, that is just so sad because young doctors won't want to go into that field.

[Teanne]

Originally Posted by amandalouise

no there isnt a shortage of treatment providers in my location. whats going on is that the federal law is all americans must have health insurance. with more people on private and state insurance plans they are able to get the treatment that they need. more people in treatment means waiting lists, and treatment providers on quota's of how many patients they are allowed to see. many state and private insurance companies now work like a clearing house / waiting list programs where they keep track of how many patients the treatment providers that accept their insurance plans have. then based on numbers they assign you a treatment provider that has not reached their quota of clients.

suggestion call your insurance company and see if they work that way. if so they will be able to tell you which treatment providers in your area that accept your insurance has "space" or is taking on more clients.

this will at least make the hunting a bit easier.

another suggestion contact the mental health agency that has decided not to "absorb" (take on the out going treatment providers clients) and ask them for a referral to another agency/ treatment provider. sometimes referrals will cut through the red tape at other places, not always but sometimes.

Thanks, AmandaLouise...makes sense, but how sad! With mental health problems just beginning to lose their stigma, more and more people will be wanting to seek treatment. I don't like the idea of being "assigned" to a provider, because sometimes the provider is just not a good fit...but at least it is someone who can prescribe medications. Thanks for your response.

[Teanne]

Originally Posted by Nammu

For sure there's a lack in the south and north of my state, MN. There's only one in my town and he's not taking on new patients. In the whole south of the state there's no Pdocs accepting new patients. I haven't any idea what's going on in the central twin cities area but it's a huge metro area and has many more Pdocs, but enough for the area, I don't know. The north of my state has a serious lack of any doctors.

Right now my PCP can call the one pdoc here if there's questions but that's it. Thankfully I'm stable have been for 3 yrs so all he has to do is continue the meds that were started in TX. I lived in a huge metro area there but Pdocs are hard to get especially on Medicare. I went through a community mental health unit, the docs were good but didn't stick around in three Ypres I had 6 docs.

Hi Nammu ... Nice to talk to a Minnesotan! I used to live in the Twin Cities (until about 6 years ago). There were plenty of mental health providers in the Cities at that time. Not so sure about now. I was in the health care field myself. It used to irritate me the way all the doctors wanted to stay in the Cities. They had to use incentives to draw them out to rural areas. I live in a small town now in another state, and our health care providers come and go very quickly too as soon as their loans are "forgiven." In many ways, I can't say that I blame them, but something has to change!

[eskielover]

The comp care in my little town closed but it didn't effect me because I was already going to the one in the other town because I heard they were better & I really didn't want to go to the one in my small town if anyone questioned or just silently wondered without asking why I was going there. My first psychologist retired a few years ago & was lucky because the only Medicare provider was my DBT group leader anyway & I was praying before I knew that she would be the one I got to see. She it better than all the big name school ones I saw in Calif. I give her teaching the credit for where I am today but it is sad there are so few good ones in the so few number around here. So sad I found no good ones in Ca with the huge number available

Only 61 psychiatrists for a population of 223,000.

My suggestion to the OP is to turn to their family doctor for a referal.

[*Laurie*]

Teanne, have you contacted your insurance provider?

[-jimi-]

Originally Posted by justafriend306

Only 61 psychiatrists for a population of 223,000.

I think we have one private and seven public psych docs, area is 150,000 people.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Last year I got caught in a mess where the hospital couldn't find a pdoc to take over the unit that my pdoc wanted me hospitalized on and I had to wait an extra month to find someone who would accept me as a patient. (This is at a prestigious hospital where you'd think people would want to work).

At that time I read my state has a severe shortage of pdocs that is projected to get much worse. Pdocs are on average getting older and retiring and fewer doctors are going into psychiatry because of less prestige and lower pay. So the shortage is just going to get worse before it gets better.

I drive 2.5 hours to see my pdoc. I haven't tried to find one closer and the one I have was closer before we both moved over the years. I don't mind driving because she is excellent. One thing that really helps with my fear of not having a pdoc after she retires is I go to a big teaching hospital with 50-60 pdocs on staff so I know that whatever happens she'll easily be able to refer me on, as long as I'm willing to keep driving.

So if you have the ability maybe look for a teaching hospital? (The other nice thing is they typically take nearly any insurance possible).

[Teanne]

Originally Posted by *Laurie*

Teanne, have you contacted your insurance provider?

Thanks for the suggestion, Laurie. I live in such a small town. The nearest larger city has a huge shortage of providers also. Fortunately, I do have a psychiatrist, but I don't think she is the quality of some of the ones I've had in the past. I'm on Medicare. They really don't have any answers either. I know that my general physician would prescribe psych meds if necessary. Unfortunately, in the rather rural area where I live, there is getting to be a shortage of family providers also!

[Teanne]

Originally Posted by BeyondtheRainbow

Last year I got caught in a mess where the hospital couldn't find a pdoc to take over the unit that my pdoc wanted me hospitalized on and I had to wait an extra month to find someone who would accept me as a patient. (This is at a prestigious hospital where you'd think people would want to work).

At that time I read my state has a severe shortage of pdocs that is projected to get much worse. Pdocs are on average getting older and retiring and fewer doctors are going into psychiatry because of less prestige and lower pay. So the shortage is just going to get worse before it gets better.

I drive 2.5 hours to see my pdoc. I haven't tried to find one closer and the one I have was closer before we both moved over the years. I don't mind driving because she is excellent. One thing that really helps with my fear of not having a pdoc after she retires is I go to a big teaching hospital with 50-60 pdocs on staff so I know that whatever happens she'll easily be able to refer me on, as long as I'm willing to keep driving.

So if you have the ability maybe look for a teaching hospital? (The other nice thing is they typically take nearly any insurance possible).

BeyondtheRainbow, thank you so much for your suggestion. I know that a teaching hospital would be ideal, but that's about a four hour drive from here. If it comes to that, I would have my choice of two different teaching hospitals. Hopefully, that won't be necessary...but you never know the way things are going.