Provider Frequently Asked Questions

 

1. Does completing a GATE consult help my patients access a psychiatric clinic appointment more rapidly? No. GATE is not meant to be a "fast track" to access in person psychiatric services. In the event that following the GATE consult, the psychiatrist feels that the patient would be better served by ongoing traditional psychiatric care, whenever possible we will help with the referral process, but in most cases we can not speed the process by offering a faster appointment with a psychiatrist.

 

2. If GATE doesn't help my patients see a psychiatrist quickly, what is the purpose of it?

GATE is not meant to replace traditional psychiatric services. Its intention is to assist primary care providers in managing patients that they may be more comfortable treating with input/consultation from a psychiatrist with a rapid turnaround time, rather than referring every patient with mental health issues to a psychiatrist with a lengthy wait time.

 

3. How can I sign my practice up for GATE?

Currently we are limiting our enrollment to our pilot clinics and our partnering institutions (University Health Plans and ARUP). We are looking at several options for expansion, so please email us or check the web site periodically for updates. Our goal is to be able to provide the service to any provider in the state of Utah who wishes to use it.

 

4. I referred a patient to the GATE consultation system, but I never heard from the GATE team about the patient. Why not?

If you as the provider initiated a GATE consult but never heard from us, it means that the patient did not complete the consult. We are notified by email when a consult has been completed by the patient. After this occurs, you will hear from our GATE coordinator about scheduling a time to speak with us by phone within 24 hours. In addition, if your patient does not complete the consult, we will send you an email after two weeks to let you know this, and offer any brief help by phone without the patient input.

 

5. I can't get my patient to fill out the questionnaire. Can you help me with this?

In these situations, it is helpful to remind patients that the psychiatrists you are speaking with can offer the best advice if they have complete and thorough information about them. The more complete the answers are, the better the sense we will have as to how to help your patients. You also may remind them that the questionnaire is very similar to what they would have to complete before being seen at most psychiatric clinics.

 

6. What do I do if I am having problems logging in or with the web site?

For technical questions please email gateutah@gmail.com and someone will get back with you quickly.

 

7. How do I know if my patient needs a GATE consult?

In many cases, this is often difficult for a provider to assess. We recommend using the GATE system frequently initially, and then discuss with our psychiatrists. There are no "wrong" consults. Some feedback we have gotten from providers who have used the system is that they have learned much about assessing and treating mental illness in primary care, and over time they have a better sense of what they need ongoing help with from the GATE system.

 

8.How does GATE help me as a provider?

Several ways. One is that when dealing with mental health issues in clinic, after making sure there are no emergent issues, you will be able to shorten the appointment time by referring the patient to the GATE system to obtain much of the information that we would normally need from the primary care provider in order to provide sound psychiatric advice. Secondly, after completing a number of consults and speaking with our psychiatrists, many providers have felt more empowered to provide mental health treatment in their primary care clinics, which can improve patients' overall health. Also, we are available for provider education (inservices, etc.), and can help facilitate therapist referrals and increase provider knowledge of other community resources.

 

9. How is GATE funded?

Currently we are not funded through any means other than working with our partnering institution. In the event we receive adequate funding, we will expand GATE to provide the services to more providers and more patients.

 

10. When completing a GATE consult, will you be able to review my patient's chart?

No. Your patient's data will be completely deidentified when it is entered into our database. In order to remain in compliance with HIPAA, your patient's name and identifying information (other than age and gender) will not be obtained or recorded by our psychiatrists.

 

11. Who reviews the consults and gives the advice?

In most cases, the consults will be completed by the four founders, Dr. Kleinschmit, Dr. Ashworth, Dr. Kendrick and Dr. Weir. In some instances, they may be completed by other adult psychiatrists or an addiction specialist, also on faculty with the University of Utah.

 

12. What qualifies as a "quick question"?

A quick question is something that we could generally answer in one or two sentances (ex- a question about a referral, a medication dosing question, etc.) If questions are more complex or involve diagnostic issues, it is best to have the patient complete a full GATE consult.

 

13. What types of outcomes are you measuring?

Currently we are measuring patient and provider satisfaction, and provider comfort level in treating various psychiatric diagnoses before and after implementing GATE. Our next step is to measure patient outcomes and overall health care costs, in working with our partners. We are hopeful that by obtaining this data, we will have more third party payers interested in partnering with the GATE system.