thinking creatively about entrepreneurship

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Been working as a geropsychologist at the VA for a number of years, have amassed what I consider to be pretty darn good experience in all things clinical, research, teaching, and administrative - also have been consulting on the side here at there (assessment, neuropsych).

I'm aware I've had the entrepreneurship itch for years but I have no idea how to go about scratching it. Also, in the geriatric psychology field, as far as going into business is concerned, we're required to be a bit more creative than other specialists as it's difficult to just hang out a shingle and do private practice (e.g., Medicare monopoly, etc).

Any suggestions as for places or methods to incubate some ideas? I'm trying to keep the question general.

This may not be in line with what you are thinking but..

One of my areas of specialization is medical psych. - people with terminal and chronic illnesses. Something I think is really missing in our field (be it illness or geriatrics) is how to provide services to this population when they are home bound for various reasons.

You know Home Health Services that the nursing field provides..well what about psychological services that come to the client? Alot of people who NEED psych. assistance are unable to physically obtain it. Geriatrics being one of them. The traveling Psych.

Originally Posted by newchapter

This may not be in line with what you are thinking but..

One of my areas of specialization is medical psych. - people with terminal and chronic illnesses. Something I think is really missing in our field (be it illness or geriatrics) is how to provide services to this population when they are home bound for various reasons.

You know Home Health Services that the nursing field provide..well what about psychological services that come to the client? Alot of people who NEED psych. assistance are unable to physcially obtain it. Geriatrics being one of them. The traveling Psych.

A few VAs are pushing for these types of services in addition to telehealth, I believe. Not sure how widespread it is beyond that, though. There's certainly a need for it, particularly in rural areas where patients are driving 60+ miles each way to the hospital with already-limited access to transportation, and thus weekly therapy sessions just aren't realistic (or particularly humane).

Originally Posted by AcronymAllergy

A few VAs are pushing for these types of services in addition to telehealth, I believe. Not sure how widespread it is beyond that, though. There's certainly a need for it, particularly in rural areas where patients are driving 60+ miles each way to the hospital with already-limited access to transportation, and thus weekly therapy sessions just aren't realistic (or particularly humane).

Yea, but they can profit from the "travel pay..."

Originally Posted by erg923

Yea, but they can profit from the "travel pay..."

Perhaps, but at least with many of the patients I've worked with (particularly those with vision impairments), just being able to find a ride in the first place can be tough. Beyond that, even if they can find a ride, if the person is having to spend two hours in a car every week to come see the therapist, maintaining adequate treatment motivation can be tough.

Originally Posted by newchapter

This may not be in line with what you are thinking but..

One of my areas of specialization is medical psych. - people with terminal and chronic illnesses. Something I think is really missing in our field (be it illness or geriatrics) is how to provide services to this population when they are home bound for various reasons.

You know Home Health Services that the nursing field provides..well what about psychological services that come to the client? Alot of people who NEED psych. assistance are unable to physically obtain it. Geriatrics being one of them. The traveling Psych.

I think that sounds great but so much potentially valuable entrepreneurial energy is sapped by dominance of managed care, and the Medicare monopoly as regards geriatrics. I was looking at this: http://physiciancaredirect.com/ and wondering if there was any value for such a model to be applied to geriatric mental health care / chronic disease management / integrated care service delivery..... anyways.....