Driven By Need for Data and Improved Access, Outcomes, the Future of Psychiatry Is Digital

Emerging technologies have the potential to push psychiatry into a new era of evidence-based care, with improved treatment and access. During a presentation about the future of psychiatry at a meeting of mental health professionals, Arshya Vahabzadeh, MD, asked his audience to raise their hands if they were already practicing telepsychiatry. Scattered around the packed convention center ballroom, just a dozen or a few more participants raised their hands. "Telepsychiatry is booming," said Vahabzadeh, the chief medical officer of Brain Power, a neuroscience tech startup that makes artificial intelligence (AI)–based, gamified wearables for people with developmental disorders, like autism, or other brain conditions. More hands would be in the air at the next meeting, he said.