Psychiatry
1
Psychiatry Evaluation
Although a psychiatric evaluation may sound scary, it’s simply a way for a psychiatry provider to understand what you’re experiencing at the moment.
The evaluation involves multiple steps, which may include completing a questionnaire, filling out a symptom rating scale, and answering questions. The questions included in the questionnaire or asked during the visit can be personal, uncomfortable, or even boring, but they are essential in helping the psychiatry provider determine the exact nature and extent of a person’s mental illness.
Think of the psychiatric evaluation as a medical test. If you have physical symptoms, like a sore throat, a healthcare provider may order a throat culture to better understand the cause of the symptoms and in turn, help to create a treatment plan. The psychiatric evaluation serves the same purpose — it is a tool used to measure and observe your symptoms to diagnose and treat your specific issues.
2
Medication Management
Medication management is the process that psychiatry providers use to ensure that patients are receiving the greatest benefit and best possible outcomes from their medications.
A medication management visit consists of a couple of steps, which can include filling out a symptom rating scale and answering questions during a visit with the psychiatric provider. The symptom rating scale and questions asked during the visit can be personal, uncomfortable, or even boring, but they are essential in helping the psychiatry provider determine the efficacy of prescribed medications.
Think of the medication management visit as a medical test. If your throat culture came back positive for strep and your healthcare provider gave you an antibiotic, you may need to have a repeat throat culture to ensure the antibiotic cleared the infection. The medication management visit serves the same purpose — it is a tool used to reevaluate your symptoms to determine whether or not the diagnoses and treatments were effective.
3
Pharmacogenetics
Pharmacogenetics is the study of how a person’s genes impact the body’s response to certain medications. Your genes are part of the DNA that is passed down from your mother and father. Unique traits, such as height, hair color, and eye color, are determined by information within your genes. Likewise, your genes can affect the safety and efficacy of a particular medication for you.
Pharmacogenetics testing looks at specific genes to determine what medications might be right for you, what dosages might be best, and even whether or not you might have serious side effects from a medication.
Pharmacogenetics testing is easy, painless, and done in the comfort of your own home! A kit is shipped to your door with instructions for completion and return shipping information. You will swab your cheeks, provide the required information, contact the return shipping service for pick up, and sit back and wait for your results.
When your results come back, you will have a visit with the psychiatry provider to review them and discuss what they mean for ongoing medication management. Your psychiatry provider will work with you to create a treatment plan using medications that are most likely to be effective and safe.