General Protocol Deaf-Link currently utilizes 14 sites throughout central and southwestern Virginia. Referrals for outpatient consumers are made by the local clinician directly to the Regional Coordinator or the MHCD psychiatrist. Referrals for individuals receiving inpatient treatment are made by the MHCD treatment team. Referral forms include basic demographic information, history of previous treatment, history of deafness, communication method preferred and presenting problems. Other components of the referral process include obtaining consent to treatment and insurance information.
Scheduling is coordinated by each provider's site.
A videoteleconference appointment routinely consists of a deaf services clinician at the provider site and a consumer and a local provider at the remote site. Appointments are generally 30 - 60 minutes in duration. Frequency of appointments varies with need, from weekly, for therapy appointments, to every 2-3 months for routine psychiatric appointments. Treatment notes are completed and mailed within two weeks. Prescriptions can be mailed, phoned to a nurse at the local provider's site, or phoned directly to the pharmacy by the physician.