PCAT holds second annual retreat

Department news | October 31, 2017


The UW Medicine Psychiatry Consultation and Telepsychiatry (PCAT) program recently held a retreat that brought together 20 departmental faculty members to review accomplishments of the program to date and strategic plans for the coming year. PCAT, led by Marc Avery, MD, and supported by Cara Towle, RN, MSN, MA, offers three tiers of telepsychiatry: provider-to-provider consultation, integrated care consultation, and direct patient care. The PCAT program currently serves primary care patients in our UW Neighborhood Clinics, at UWMC and Harborview, in community clinics and hospitals throughout Washington State, and even one Wyoming-based hospital consultation program. The theme of the retreat was ‘Moving from Caseload Consultation to Population Health consultation,’ a theme that recognizes the increasing role of psychiatrists in promoting the health and wellness of patients in primary care programs. In addition to UW faculty members, retreat attendees included faculty and staff from Valley Cities Behavioral Health Care (a community partner in the Mental Health Integration Program). The retreat had a “summer camp” theme and included presentations, team building exercises, and time for attendees working on different projects to mingle, share ideas, and learn from one another.