Let's Talk About Eating Disorders and Virtual Care Eating Recovery Academy Podcast

Show Notes
 
What is virtual care and how can it be used in treating patients with eating disorders?
What are the limitations or advantages of using virtual care in treating eating disorder patients?
In this podcast episode, Kate Fisch speaks with Dr. Erin Knopf about virtual care for Eating Disorders. She discusses the benefits and challenges around virtual care and the role it plays in assisting our clients and developing more effective treatments.
 
MEET DR. ERIN KNOPF
Dr. Knopf is dedicated to treating patients with eating disorders holistically. As a triple-boarded physician (pediatrician, adult psychiatrist, child/adolescent psychiatrist) and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, she uses her combined training with intentionality to assess disease severity and devise comprehensive plans to address the eating disorder behaviors as well as comorbid symptoms of anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma and more. She describes herself as the “mechanic of the body” and prioritizes psychoeducation and biological education for patients and families to foster insight and achieve treatment alignment. Dr. Knopf previously worked in an IP/RES/PHP program for almost 5 years and at the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, she served as unit psychiatrist for ten months at the ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders. She is a member of IAEDP, AED, AACAP, APA and AAP.
Visit Virtual Eating Recovery For You to find out more.
  IN THIS PODCAST Will virtual care replace physical consultations?
The challenges faced with treating eating disorders.
Childhood obesity, diets and restrictive eating.
Lab results and eating disorders.
 
Do you feel like delivering care virtually gets in the way of connecting with patients? “I will admit, as an extrovert, I don't think there will ever be a way to replace the beauty of in person connection. There are nuances that are missed. But ultimately, would I turn away from virtual care? Absolutely not!”
Dr. Erin Knopf
 
When we think about virtual care, the cons might be pretty clear, but the pros just far outweigh, especially when we're talking about someone getting care versus not. . .
 
“It’s an opportunity to bring care to people who would never have it, it's flexible, convenient. So I think overall, the virtual care frontier is really exciting and we can only do it better with our technological advances.”
Dr. Erin Knopf
 
What is a big challenge you are currently faced with? “Right now we are, unfortunately, private pay, which I know limits access, but that is not our end game. We are currently working on credentialing with three insurance companies.We offer discounted bundles for services. We do super bills, and we even have a single case agreement.”
Dr. Erin Knopf
 
Eating disorders don't discriminate based on socioeconomic status. They also don't discriminate based on geographic location. It is important for all patients to have access to some level of professional care and help.
 
What are your thoughts on the American Academy of Pediatrics’recently issued a statement on childhood obesity? “The first part is it's still relying on BMI as the measure of obesity. It actually doesn't include in the definition any other medical considerations that people get worried about - type two diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, things like that.”
Dr. Erin Knopf
 
The steps that follow such a statement are extremely drastic, especially when we consider its referral to children. . .
 
“ It just says if a child's body is 90th percentile for age match, BMI percentage, then they meet criteria for obesity and therefore should be considered for, drum roll, either weight loss surgery, like bariatric surgery, or weight loss medications.”
Dr. Erin Knopf
 
What are your thoughts on why diets and restrictive eating are so common? “Human beings like diet culture because it helps them feel in control and powerful and capable of incredible discipline. Think