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Comment by peanut_worm | Hacker News Reader

This new trend of telehealth services prescribing things in a nearly automated fashion seems like its going to get regulated soon.

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I sincerely hope they do, but I wonder if this trend wouldn't have been possible if getting access to mental healthcare didn't just seem so impossible for most folks in the US.

Its interesting because I've looked into these "automated prescription" telehealth services for a year now without much luck.

I have prescription OCD meds that I've been on for a couple of years. I pay 100 USD out of pocket every 3 months for a telehealth appointment with my doc where she asks "everything okay? Same prescrition?" Its totally useless, but I've yet to find a service that is <33 USD/month to save me any money on this.

I think the benefits of these startups aren't that they are cheaper but that they offer new patient exams within a few days. My PCP won't diagnose let alone prescribe medication for ADHD (which is pretty normal from what I've seen) but finding a psychiatrist can be a real pain. I've heard of people booking appointments a month or two in advance which, for a lot of people, is outside of their work/life scheduling horizon. I admit this particular problem is a bit top of mind because I'm trying to see an audiologist and last week places around me were booking for February 2023 :(

It's only a matter of time, and I hope it happens soon. I was always a bit... concerned with the services like Keeps/Hims/Roman/etc that do generic ED medication, but to see services like this that will just let you bullshit your way to a controlled medication is just a bit... concerning.

The doctors (and in reality, a lot more NPs than MDs) don't care because all they have to do is hop on their app and rubber-stamp away between their normal patient load. It's free money!

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