Doctor on demand service ZoomDoc has extended its offering to cover mental health care through a new partnership with Dr. Julian, the mental health care app. This will allow patients to receive care directly via secure video, audio or mobile messaging with qualified, vetted mental healthcare professionals.
The new service aims to cut down on the waiting time for mental health care by enabling same day consultations, using only qualified psychotherapists for patient treatment.
More than £42 billion is lost every year by businesses as a result of the costs associated with mental health issues faced by employees. This is becoming an increasingly serious problem for many UK employers. The ability to diagnose and treat mental health illness at the convenience of the patient is a service in high demand and a lucrative benefit for employers to offer to their staff.
The partnership combines ZoomDoc’s GP service with Dr. Julian’s team of 80 therapists who deliver online mental health appointments via secure video or instant messaging.
ZoomDoc CEO, Dr. Kenny Livingstone commented, “Mental health is a serious and increasing problem in the UK. Sufferers should be able to get treatment when they need it, and not need to wait for therapists to become available. Waiting times for those in need can take months, and our ZoomDoc Mental Health service addresses many of the concerns patients have in accessing the best support for their particular issue by eliminating the need to wait for treatment. We hope that this can reduce the pressure and stress in getting access to the right care at the right time.”
Dr. Julian Nesbit, founder of Dr. Julian, commented, “The partnership with ZoomDoc will make mental health care more easily accessible to more people. From a corporate perspective, we believe that a small investment in the mental health of a workforce will create quick and efficient support for those in need and generate cost savings for businesses. We designed our service to be consumer centred where the user chooses who they want to see when they want to see them and as the appointment is delivered online it can be undertaken from anywhere in the world.”
