How to Set up and Run a Virtual Eating Disorder Practice: Treating the Digital Patient During the COVID-19 Epidemic

FREE iaedp™ Institute Webinar

How to Set up and Run a Virtual Eating Disorder Practice: Treating the Digital Patient During the COVID-19 Epidemic

Thu, Mar 26, 2020 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT

Presented by Jenna Tregarthen, CEO and Co-Founder of Recovery Record and Melainie Rogers MS, RDN, CDN, CEDRD-S Founder Executive Director of BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™

The global Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) epidemic has created an unprecedented need for eating disorder treatment professionals to rapidly set up and deliver virtual care. Digital tools are being adopted across a variety of treatment settings, allowing for continuity of care at a time when many patients are experiencing distress, disconnect from social supports, food insecurity or oversupply in the home, and other stressors associated with home quarantine. Virtual practices not only allow providers to continue to meet this urgent patient need while minimizing COVID-19 risk, but it is anticipated that virtual-only care may be mandated by federal and state agencies in the near term.

This presentation will outline foundational need-to-know information for setting up a virtual practice, including technical, safety and clinical considerations in the current climate. Further, it will highlight opportunities for practitioners to augment and enrich their new telehealth practice. Utilizing adjunctive technologies allows for the automation of evidence-based tasks, equips care teams with access to timely patient progress and meal data, and extends the care continuum into patients’ homes and lives while providing for access to coping skills and support in moments of need. Finally, real-world learnings from implementing telehealth and an app-based adjunct to care in a New York-based outpatient treatment center will be shared with a focus on successes and challenges for clinical staff and patients.