April 24, 2020

​The health care community is beginning to transition back toward our regular clinic schedules and practices. We all anticipate that Governor Tate Reeves will lift the shelter in place order next week but continue to advise social distancing. In addition, commercial insurance and medicaid will not cover telehealth visits in the same manner after the shelter in place order is lifted. Medicare will continue to cover telehealth and telephonic communication in the same manner for those that cannot or should not travel and who have uncomplicated and stable illnesses. Due to all of these factors we will be resuming the normal clinic routine as of April 28, 2020 and reserving telehealth visits to those medicare patients at high risk to travel to the clinic. Any other cases needing this service will be handled on a case by case basis. If you have any questions please call the office and discuss with one of my associates.


We are engaged in several strategies that bring to bear the best information we have available to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on your office visit. St. Dominic mandates screening for signs and symptoms of the illness for all patients and staff entering the building, including temperature measurement. Symptomatic patients are not admitted. In addition, only the patient is allowed in the building unless a companion is needed for assistance. All visitors and staff are required to wear a face mask (provided at the screening station) and adhere to social distancing guidelines, e.g., only 4 people in an elevator at a time.



Recent studies have shown that UV light, particularly the UVC bandwidth rapidly deactivates the virus. I have ordered two of these units for the office today. Alcohol deactivates the virus even more rapidly than UVC. I have ordered 2 gallons of alcohol (you can't find it in town) and a gallon of alcohol based hand sanitizer. We have also spaced the chairs in the waiting room further apart. These measures should allow us to offer you as safe of environment for your visit as possible given our current state of knowledge and technology.


Our office will most likely be the most sanitary public place you will visit during this outbreak.

***Coronavirus Update as of March 18, 2020***

​
Our clinic will not be closed due to the growing concern of our community. We will still function via telehealth and those of you that have scheduled appointments will need to maintain those appointments through the VSee Telehealth Instructions outlined below. We will call in and/or fax prescriptions to your pharmacy. You will need to update our staff of your correct pharmacy information, phone, and fax numbers. We will send a new update when in-clinic visits are to resume.
Preventative steps to take at home and during activities of daily living:
Lysol kills the human coronavirus. Regular use of anti-bacterial soap with water for 20 seconds. Hand sanitizer if soap is not available. Keep your hands away from your face and avoid large crowds. If you have any symptoms, go to your local hospital to be tested and if positive remember to self- quarantine for no less than 14 days. Extreme outbreak areas, gloves and masks can be used. Per the US National Library of Medicine: Coronavirus symptoms will present within 5 days [ The median incubation period was estimated to be 5.1 days (95% CI, 4.5 to 5.8 days) The median incubation period for COVID-19 of approximately 5 days, similar to SARS.] For more information:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32150748 https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/faq.html
If you have any further questions, please contact our office at 601-941-8666 or email at drandrewcbishop@gmail.com.




***January 20, 2020 - Check us out on Twitter @dracbishop


***December 1, 2019- Dr. Bishop has successfully completed the Master Psychopharmacology Course offered by the Neuroscience Education Institute (NEI). NEI was founded by Dr. Stephen Stahl, perhaps the preeminent psychopharmacology educator in the United States. The course work consists of reading Dr. Stahl's textbook and taking a series of approximately 10 tests based on the contents of the book. The course then moves through a series of 24 clinical case conferences and journal articles. Of course, there are 24 tests associated with this part of the curriculum. After the student passes all of these tests the student is then eligible to take the rigorous final exam. This was a marathon learning experience. I hope the return on this investment is that my patients can be assured of receiving the best informed evidence based psychiatric care available.

Laboratory services
Standards of care have evolved over the last few years so that certain laboratory measurements are recommended for the screening and monitoring of treatment in patients presenting for psychiatric care. As our medications have become more effective and the number and type of medications have expanded, so have the potential adverse consequences of these medications. Many psychiatric illnesses carry with them the burden of excess medical morbidity, some of which require laboratory assessment.

Previously when a patient required laboratory assessment we had to send the patient to the hospital lab. The hospital then billed the patient at the hospital rate, which is several times the outpatient rate. This is an unacceptable burden on our patients. We have recently negotiated with the hospital an agreement that allows us to offer laboratory services in our office at the outpatient rate. My associate, Haley Dougay, is a certified phlebotomist. Our new office affords a separate laboratory for efficient, affordable, and not quite painless assessment of laboratory measure.


We Are Moving Upstairs!
We are not sure of the exact date but we anticipate that some time in December 2019 we will be moving to suite 654 in the same building. Suite 654 is about 100 square feet larger and is laid out in a much more functional manner. This suite will allow us to deliver state of the art psychiatric services, including those listed below.


Information About Spravato
Dr. Bishop is now offering Spravato to patients that have failed to adequately respond to a trial of at least two antidepressants. This medication can only be administered at a psychiatrist's practice that participates in an FDA approved REMS program. This medication requires prior approval by the patient's insurance company. Please see the blog post about Spravato. If you wish to consider treatment with Spravato please call Dr. Bishop's office and schedule an appointment.​













​