The Periscope Project is a free resource for health care providers caring for pregnant and postpartum women in Wisconsin who are struggling with mental health or substance use disorders.
Three Services Available to Providers:
Provider to provider perinatal psychiatry teleconsultation.
Educational presentations and tools available to providers.
Information on additional resources that support perinatal mental health & wellbeing.
Suicide is a leading cause of death among postpartum women. Build your capacity to treat patients by providing more robust care.
One out of five women will struggle with mental health symptoms during the perinatal period, yet 75% of them will not receive treatment. The Periscope Project was created to help providers effectively diagnosis and manage the mental health concerns of their perinatal patients. By offering real-time provider to provider teleconsultation, education materials and mental health resource information, The Periscope Project builds provider’s capacity to care for their perinatal patients.
How it Works
Calls and e-mails are answered by a triage coordinator Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm, excluding holidays.
Basic provider information, reason for contact, and direct call back number are collected. Triage typically takes less than 2 minutes.
Resource information is provided by the triage coordinator.
Within 30-minutes, a perinatal psychiatrist will contact the inquiring provider at the number provided. On average, the response time is less than 9 minutes.
The providers will have a case based conversation. The perinatal psychiatrist will offer evidence based education and recommendations to the provider based on the information provided during the conversation.
Staffing perinatal psychiatrists are certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry with clinical experience in perinatal psychiatric settings.
In most circumstances, the calling provider is able to continue managing care of their perinatal patient’s behavioral health condition.
At times, the perinatal psychiatrist may recommend the patient be seen by a psychiatrist or sub-specialty perinatal psychiatrist for in-person evaluation.
100% of responding providers are satisfied with the services they received and agree they will use the information obtained during the consultation for future care of their patients.
What is teleconsultation?
“Teleconsultation” is a way for one health care provider to obtain professional opinion from another health care provider who is not located in the same place. Different from telemedicine, teleconsultations are not available directly to patients. With a limited number of perinatal psychiatrists in Wisconsin, The Periscope Project gives health care providers a means for discussing perinatal psychiatric disorders with an expert.
For Health Care Providers Only:
Health care providers and professionals treating pregnant & postpartum patients in Wisconsin are invited to enroll through a brief online form.
Sub-specialty perinatal psychiatrists are available to consult with eligible providers weekdays from 8am – 4pm.
Brief modules and a toolkit are available for download on treatment of perinatal mental health disorders.
Hear Megan’s story of perinatal mood & anxiety disorders and gain insight into the patients perspective. In this video, Moms Mental Health Initiative and The Periscope Project discuss ways you as the provider can be a difference maker for a mom struggling with perinatal mental health disorders. Start by taking advantage of the opportunity to discuss mental health at every visit.
“The information was very helpful and will benefit my patient. The perinatal psychiatrist is a wonderful resource and never makes me feel inferior. She always provides the evidence to support her recommendations. Thank you for such an amazing resource.”
– Family Medicine Physician
“I am so thankful for your help! I spoke with a perinatal psychiatrist this morning; she was very informative. I have used your service twice so far, each time the response was prompt and critical to good patient care. Thank you again.”
– CNM
Available Monday – Friday from 8am – 4pm CST, excluding holidays.
Provider to provider perinatal psychiatric tele-consultations within 30 minutes.
E-mails returned within one business day.
The Periscope Project is a program of the Medical College of Wisconsin – Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine.
