Online Geriatric Psychiatry for Clearwater, FL residents

Not at this time. Clearwater and north Pinellas are served by statewide Florida telehealth. Patients who specifically want to be seen face to face can be booked at our Wesley Chapel office, 27724 Cashford Circle, Suite 102. There is no Ascend office in Clearwater or anywhere else in Pinellas County.

Yes, and it is routine. With your written consent we send the referring cardiologist a note after the intake and again after any medication change. Coordination matters here specifically, because some cardiac medications interact with psychiatric ones and because a few affect mood on their own.

Insurance questions go to our care team, who confirm your coverage with you before your first visit. We work with many major commercial plans and offer self-pay options. Coverage varies by plan and service. Our team will confirm with you. If you would rather talk it through before booking, call (813) 670-3005 and a coordinator will go over your parent's situation with you.

Yes, by video from the community itself. The resident joins from their apartment or a quiet common room, and a family member or a staff member can help with the tablet or laptop and stay for the visit if the resident agrees. Where the community has a nurse who handles medications, we can share medication changes with that nurse, with the resident's written consent, so the change actually happens. We do not visit facilities in person.

Often, yes. Fatigue, appetite loss, and a shrinking daily routine are among the most common ways depression presents after sixty, and many patients genuinely do not experience it as sadness. An evaluation can also identify a medical or medication-related cause, which is a useful answer regardless of what it turns out to be.

We contact that prescriber. We do not stop or change somebody else's prescription unilaterally, and abruptly discontinuing certain medications in an older adult carries real risk. The usual approach is to confirm what the medication was started for, confirm whether that reason still applies, and then plan a taper on a schedule agreed with the prescribing clinician.

Usually within the week for a first video visit with Margot Krahn, PMHNP-BC. Her open times show on Zocdoc through the booking button on this page, so you can see real availability before calling. If you would rather talk first, send the form and a care coordinator calls you back, usually within one business day. Families who want the first hour face to face at the Wesley Chapel office can ask for that when booking.

No. Every visit can happen by video from her apartment, and the Wesley Chapel office, about 50 minutes away outside rush hour, is only for families who would rather meet face to face. If something needs hands-on attention, such as a blood pressure check or a look at her balance, we ask her own doctor in Pinellas to handle it and share the result with us.

If he is safe but clearly worse, call the psychiatry number listed on this page so we can look at moving the next visit up or adjusting the plan. If he talks about ending his life, or you cannot keep him safe, call or text 988 or call 911. The nearest emergency departments are Morton Plant Hospital's Cantonis Emergency Center on Pinellas St and HCA Florida Clearwater Emergency on Gulf to Bay Blvd, open 24 hours.

Yes, and it is worth using. The county's Care About Me line lets a family member call, text or chat about a non-crisis concern and get scheduled with a local provider for themselves. The Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas can talk through help at home and respite with you. NAMI Pinellas County is the local affiliate for families affected by mental illness. We will ask how you are holding up, because an exhausted caregiver changes which plan is realistic.

Yes, with his consent. Adult children often join on the same link from work or from out of state, and aides are welcome too, since the person who sees him every day often knows more about his sleep, appetite and moods than anyone. Margot will usually ask for a few minutes alone with him as well, which is routine and not a sign that something is wrong.

Quite a lot, even though the diagnosis itself belongs with his neurologist. Margot treats the parts that often make dementia harder at home: depression, anxiety, poor sleep, suspicion and late-day agitation, looking first at pain, infection and medications before adding anything. If the diagnosis is still uncertain, Ascend Mind and Body's psychologist, Dr. Richard M. Marshall, Ed.D., Ph.D., does neurocognitive evaluations for older adults at our Lakeland office, about 65 minutes from Clearwater outside rush hour. With consent, we keep his neurologist informed.

The first video visit runs an hour, and a coordinator tests the link a few days ahead. On the day, Margot starts with every medication, supplement and eye drop, then covers mood, sleep, appetite, energy, falls, recent losses and memory, and asks what the family has noticed. Blood pressure, balance and the hands-on exam stay with his own doctor, and she may ask that doctor for recent labs. You leave knowing what she thinks is happening and what comes next.