Psychiatry visits now available on Amwell app

Telehealth app Amwell now offers psychiatry services for patients looking to receive mental health treatment remotely from U.S. board-certified psychiatrists.

Amwell is an app designed by American Well, a national telehealth technology and services company.

Patients will be able to immediately access a physician, schedule appointments and invite other participants to visits, American Well said in a statement. Depending on insurance plans, some services may be eligible for coverage.

The program, only available to adults over 18 years old, provides immediate access to psychiatrists in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Carolina. Additional states will continue to be added, with nationwide coverage expected in 2017.

"Every year one in four people will deal with a mental health disorder, yet less than half of these individuals will actually receive treatment," said American Well's Vice President of Behavioral Health, Zereana Jess-Huff, MD, in a statement. "Mental healthcare is in desperate need of real solutions and telemental health can bridge that gap. With our reach and networkAmerican Well currently serves 50 million covered Americans through Amwell and our work with major health insurers—telehealth will continue to serve as a real solution to severe access issues for mental healthcare."

Katherine Davis,

Senior Writer

As a Senior Writer for TriMed Media Group, Katherine primarily focuses on producing news stories, Q&As and features for Cardiovascular Business. She reports on several facets of the cardiology industry, including emerging technology, new clinical trials and findings, and quality initiatives among providers. She is based out of TriMed's Chicago office and holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Columbia College Chicago. Her work has appeared in Modern Healthcare, Crain's Chicago Business and The Detroit News. She joined TriMed in 2016.

Around the web

Compensation for heart specialists continues to climb. What does this say about cardiology as a whole? Could private equity's rising influence bring about change? We spoke to MedAxiom CEO Jerry Blackwell, MD, MBA, a veteran cardiologist himself, to learn more.

The American College of Cardiology has shared its perspective on new CMS payment policies, highlighting revenue concerns while providing key details for cardiologists and other cardiology professionals. 

As debate simmers over how best to regulate AI, experts continue to offer guidance on where to start, how to proceed and what to emphasize. A new resource models its recommendations on what its authors call the “SETO Loop.”