FasPsych Increases Telepsychiatry Services to Cover the Epidemic of Retiring Psychiatrists

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - September 21, 2026 - FasPsych (https://faspsych.com), the nation's leading behavioral health and telepsychiatry network, today announced it is increasing telepsychiatry staffing services to directly cover the epidemic of psychiatrist retirements leaving hospitals, community mental health centers, FQHCs, residential programs, and correctional facilities without a working service line.

A large share of the psychiatrist workforce is at or near retirement age. As of December 31, 2025, the United States had 6,807 mental health Health Professional Shortage Areas, with only about 27 percent of need met. Workforce models rank psychiatry last among physician specialties in projected adequacy through 2038. Published estimates place the psychiatrist shortfall between 14,000 and 31,000. At the site level, that national gap often arrives as one event: the clinician who owns the panel retires or resigns.

FasPsych is expanding the clinical hours, backup coverage, and rebuild staffing it can place into existing programs so organizations do not have to wait out a national recruiting cycle after the psychiatrist is already gone. The company supplies state-licensed psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners who join the facility's service line, document in the site EHR, and work under the organization's clinical governance. FasPsych partners with nearly 130 organizations nationwide and facilitates approximately 15,000 telepsychiatry visits each month.

"Retirement is not an HR announcement. It is a missing decision-maker," a FasPsych spokesperson said. "We are increasing services so a second licensed clinician can be credentialed, privileged, and live on video while the departing psychiatrist is still on staff. If the plan starts the week after the last clinic, the service does not degrade. It stops."

A single employed or contracted psychiatrist can look efficient until that person retires, takes leave, or resigns. FasPsych describes that arrangement as key-person risk: the service runs because one clinician is licensed, privileged, enrolled with payers, and reachable for the hard case. When that person cannot work, visits cancel, notes stall, therapists hold risk without a prescriber, and call has no name. FasPsych is urging sites to lock in coverage before the doctor leaves, and is increasing capacity so that coverage can be stood up while a handoff is still possible.

Increased services now available

Backup psychiatrist coverage through telepsychiatry video visits

Facilities that still have a primary psychiatrist on the roster can add a second licensed psychiatrist or psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner through secure, real-time video. That covering clinician opens the same record, sees the same patients, and keeps assigned weekday services running during vacation, medical leave, call-outs, or a planned retirement. Backup coverage is not after-hours crisis work. It is a tested second provider, already credentialed and privileged, so the panel does not go dark. Implementation includes a needs assessment, credentialing, EHR integration, and a live video path-work FasPsych is now prioritizing so it can be finished before the primary clinician's last day.

Learn more: https://faspsych.com/blog/backup-psychiatrist-coverage-telepsychiatry-video/

Rebuild the psychiatry program after a retirement or lasting break

When the break is lasting-a retirement with no return date, a resignation, a contract that ended, a census that no longer fits the old hours-reprinting last month's week creates hybrid operations that satisfy no one. Reconstruction names the new limits: what must not stop in the next 14 days, what can pause safely, which panels lost a decision-maker, and who owns the new week. FasPsych is increasing staffing for that redesigned service rather than costuming the previous one. A 30-day rebuild publishes new hours and roles instead of leaving nurses hunting signatures while leadership reports that the program is still intact.

Learn more: https://faspsych.com/blog/rebuild-psychiatry-program-after-a-break/

"The professional response is not a search that starts after the farewell lunch," the spokesperson said. "It is more licensed psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners on a HIPAA-compliant video link who can open the same record-or a rebuilt week that can be staffed without heroics. We are putting those clinicians in place while the departing psychiatrist can still hand off the panel."

Four questions every site should answer now

FasPsych recommends that medical directors, COOs, and behavioral health leaders answer four questions now, not after notice is given:

Who sees the panel-by name, license, EHR access, and video path-if the primary psychiatrist is out?

How many leave days can the site absorb before intakes are canceled?

What still functions if the psychiatrist retires or resigns-medication refills, evaluations, consults?

Is backup already privileged and tested, with a live video path and EHR access?

If any answer is unclear, the succession plan is incomplete. Waiting until the doctor leaves converts a manageable transition into canceled clinics, unmanaged cases, and staff holding clinical risk without a prescriber.

How to get started

FasPsych implementation specialists review the current roster, the gaps that appear when the named psychiatrist is out, and how scheduled, locum, part-time, or on-demand video coverage can sit behind that person before the next retirement date. Clients pay only for the hours used, with no setup fees.
FasPsych handles credentialing, technology integration, and ongoing support so coverage can start once privileging and scheduling are complete.

Organizations can map coverage, credentialing, and a 30-day transition with a FasPsych implementation specialist at (877) 218-4070 or https://faspsych.com/partner-with-us/.

FasPsych LLC
8687 E Via De Ventura Ste 310
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
Phone Number: (480) 970-9097

Contact: Michael Boyle
Contact Email: m.boyle@faspsych.com

FasPsych LLC, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, has delivered scalable telepsychiatry and behavioral health staffing solutions since 2007. The company connects hospitals, clinics, community mental health centers, residential facilities, and other organizations with board-certified psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners for evaluations, medication management, crisis support, medical director services, and hybrid care models.

This release was published on openPR.