Coronavirus CDC

February 2022: COVID-19 or Coronavirus and GPS

Peter ForsterAbout GPS, Basic Science, GPS Update, Physical Conditions and Health Leave a Comment

The current projections for COVID-19 coronavirus infections in California look hopeful. We track this using the IHME model. As of mid-February 2022, it appears that infections are likely to be back to the levels seen in the fall of 2021 by mid to late March 2022. Other sources of information mirror this prediction. For example, Covid in sewage tends to …

Cost of Sending Medical Records from Gateway Psychiatric

Peter ForsterAbout GPS, Costs of Treatment Leave a Comment

It is our policy to provide you and other health care providers ready access to necessary medical information. Fortunately, it is easy for us to create a summary of your care that includes our initial assessment, your diagnoses, and a complete record of any medication we may have prescribed. Unfortunately, if you want a complete copy of your record, due …

Life Insurance or Disability Insurance and Confidentiality – the MIB and Limits of HIPAA

Peter ForsterAbout GPS, Costs of Treatment, Physical Conditions and Health Leave a Comment

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has a few limitations that should be considered when you are applying for life insurance or disability insurance. Life insurance and disability or long term care insurance companies ask you for the names of all the doctors who have treated you and your consent to get records from the doctors. The consent …

Telepsychiatry Presentation by Dr. Peter Forster

Peter ForsterAbout GPS, GPS Update Leave a Comment

Dr. Forster will be presenting an update on  “Telehealth and Psychiatry in an Era of COVID-19,” as part of the Seventh Annual Mood Disorders Summit webcast. Those interested in signing up for this free Continuing Medical Education event visit the Global Medical Education site. The program will include many presentations including… Program Agenda *All times listed are ET Day 1 …

Medications for an Emergency

Peter ForsterAbout GPS Leave a Comment

Several people recently requested medications to have on hand in case an emergency disrupts the supply. Here are some guidelines for these requests. This is from a useful post written by a doctor after a local emergency… “Ask your doctor for an additional prescription, explain what you’re doing and tell your doctor the meds will be going into storage,” says …

Webcam Appointments March 2020

Peter ForsterAbout GPS, GPS Update Leave a Comment

I will be seeing my patients via webcam for at least the next two weeks. Your appointment will be at the same time, but to join the meeting you will need a smartphone or computer with Chrome, Safari or Firefox and a camera.  Most smartphones and computers (except for work computers that block video conferencing) should work. You can find out …

Refill Dilemmas

Peter ForsterAbout GPS, GPS Update Leave a Comment

“Why do you only give me a month’s supply of medication when you approve refills?” This is a pretty common question and this blog post explains why “automatic refills” are no necessarily the magic solution to the problem of getting your medications. A refill is a quick thing to handle, right? You call a number and press a few numbers, …

Los Altos Office

New Los Altos Office Replaces Mountain View

Peter ForsterAbout GPS, GPS Update Leave a Comment

Our Mountain View Office is moving to Los Altos. The last day in the current office will be Friday, January 17th. The first day in the new office will be Tuesday, January 21 (the day after the MLK holiday). The Los Altos office is newer, has convenient parking on site, and has two excellent coffee shops across the road. We …

cbasp

CBASP Advanced Training and Certification for Gateway Therapists – Update

Peter ForsterAbout GPS, Best Practices, Major Depression, Treatments of Depression Leave a Comment

Gateway Psychiatric was established with the belief that in order to give our patients the best care possible, it is necessary to invest heavily in training for the clinical staff. We particularly focus on evidence based practices that have been shown to address significant problems facing our patients. Since chronic depression is one of the most common problems seen in …