Telepsychiatry

FSA Welcomes Dr. Dov Rapoport to Our Treatment Team!

On May 25, 2018, Dr. Dov Rapoport saw his first FSA family, but it is far from his first psychiatric evaluation. He has been a practicing physician and psychiatrist for over 30 years! He has served in quite the vast array of environments. He has worked as a psychiatric consultant in youth group homes, in drug rehabilitation programs, completed forensic evaluations for family court, worked on inpatient psychiatric units, and in a variety of outpatient settings as well. He brings a great team approach, a wealth of history and knowledge, as well as a genuine desire to build relationships with his clientele. Dr. Rapoport also shares our passion for serving a whole family and understands that youth do not exist in a vacuum.

Dr. Rapoport helped FSA to break into new ground as he is our very first experience with telemedicine. He lives in New York while he provides services to our patrons here in Elgin, Illinois over a HIPAA secure platform similar to Skype. Our case manager “greets” him in the morning by logging into the computer where he is broadcast on a large television screen. There is a camera that then allows him to see a full body picture of the person that he is working with. If it is a youth, then the family is also involved and the camera is able to capture the whole family. The room is set up so that it is most conducive to a productive telemedicine environment. The person seeking his consult is greeted by our case manager who takes them back to meet with the doctor and collects any necessary vitals. The case manager stays in the room and facilitates anything that needs to be done on-site.

One of the things that FSA really likes about Dr. Rapoport is that he values working with a team in providing best care and often consults with the assigned therapists. The platform used allows clinicians to call or video in so that they can be part of the psychiatric session. They then pop up in a small screen and can communicate with both the persons served and Dr. Rapoport. This robust communication leads to better, more cohesive treatment.

We’ve had to work out a few glitches such as getting him up and going on e-prescribing so that he can electronically submit prescriptions. There are some specific credentialing things that need to happen before we can do that. With all this cool updated technology, he is still mailing prescriptions to us. We recognized that a dedicated person needed to be involved at all times and that slightly longer sessions were necessary.

We’ve also had good surprises such as how receptive people have been to a doctor on a television screen and how his upbeat and open attitude has impacted our staff and their involvement with his services. Also, having that additional dedicated case manager provides another layer of support for those who seek psychiatric services with us.

Dr. Rapoport has brought welcomed change to FSA and we are happy that he has joined our team!