The role of primary care physicians in recognizing patients with behavioral and mental health problems is critical, psychiatrist Dr. David Pickar says. “That is what you do for a living. You find out these things. I want to make sure that the primary care physician [who] may be watching this understands he or she is not just the first line, but he or she has good skills at observing what is going on with the patient.” The primary care physician also has a relationship with the patient, psychiatrist Dr. Lorenzo Norris says. “The patient is more inclined to listen to [the primary care physician] than to just some random specialist.” In this video , Dr. Pickar and Dr. Norris discuss the importance of communicating about shared patients – not through electronic medical records, but through true dialogue.
