Telepsychiatry in France

February 7, 2020 5:09 AM

Is it possible to do telepsychiatry as a US-credentialed psychiatrist with American clients but from France?

My partner is a US-credentialed psychiatrist and we're considering moving to Toulouse, France. It doesn't look like she'll be able to practice there, even with English-speaking patients (right?), so we're looking to see whether there are any opportunities for her to do telepsychiatry with US clients. Is this possible???

posted by mrmanvir to Work & Money (7 answers total)

Betterhelp.com seems to offer help patients everywhere so it seems like this may apply to the professional on the other end as well.

Good luck and enjoy Toulouse!
posted by ashtray elvis at 5:21 AM on February 7, 2020

Best answer: Check on prohibitions against having US records offshore. It might be a HIPAA violation. One idea is to sign up with a locum tenens organization to do telepsychiatry (with records held by the agency, not by the psychiatrist.) They would know the rules. Also, she might be a hot commodity for a hospital if she is willing to work the night shift (day time for her) at a hospital. Many of them use telemed locums for psychiatric evaluations in the emergency room.
posted by eleslie at 5:55 AM on February 7, 2020 [3 favorites]

Once you’ve figured out the license/accreditation/mode of employment/practice angle you should also run your plan by a French accountant/tax advisor that has experience with US expat tax matters.
posted by koahiatamadl at 7:20 AM on February 7, 2020 [1 favorite]

In terms of licensing, I would think that as long as she is licensed in the state where the patient is located, she would be OK in terms of US law. It is possible that France might have regulation that would a psychiatrist that is "practicing" in France even if the client aren't located in France.
posted by metahawk at 8:48 AM on February 7, 2020

This is a question for the licensing board of the state she’s practicing in and whatever malpractice she will be covered by. I would
posted by namemeansgazelle at 11:17 AM on February 7, 2020

Maybe. The easiest thing would be to work for an existing telehealth company that provides telepysych services for a cash payment (any telemedicine visit reimbursed through insurance will likely require the visit have origination within the US, especially Medicare/Medicaid). However, that has an added level of difficulty for visa & tax purposes because you will be working in the US while living in France. Good luck!
posted by wearyaswater at 12:29 PM on February 7, 2020 [1 favorite]

I don't know about other telehealth companies, but from what I understand from my research, Betterhelp in particular is very unlikely to pay anywhere near what a psychiatrist would make in private practice.
posted by shaademaan at 2:54 PM on February 7, 2020