Practicing Via Telemental Health II: Care Delivery Fundamentals

2 CE Credit Hours. 1 Legal-Ethical Credit Hour. Continuing Education Session Replay w/ Review Exercises.

Developed by: Roy Huggins, LPC NCC
Presented By: Roy Huggins, LPC NCC; Liath Dalton

Course Description

Man sitting on ledge with computer overlooking a city

Did you know that there’s a deep body of research on the ways in which delivering services by videoconferencing can and can’t be clinically effective? This course will distill that research into clinical pearls, techniques, and care delivery standards for you and your clients to ensure that your video-based telemental health sessions are effective. We will also cover the issues and potential solutions that arise when working with clients who are not located in your own community, including performing your professional duties at a distance and working across licensure jurisdictions.

This introductory-level course for counselors, marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, and counseling and clinical psychologists will prepare learners to navigate legally and ethically establishing practice in new regions and jurisdictions and to deliver clinically effective care via legally and ethically appropriate technology.

Educational Objectives

  • Use the office environment and service delivery software and hardware to create a clinically effective visual and auditory connection with telemental health clients.
  • Assist clients to use their software, equipment, and environment to create clinically effective visual and auditory connections.
  • Determine if it is legal to work with a client in their location at the time of service.
  • Legally and ethically establish practice with clients in new regions or jurisdictions

Syllabus

  1. Competence in service delivery via videoconferencing
    • Evidence for effectiveness of assessment and treatment via videoconferencing
    • Lighting
    • Camera angle
      • Human perception of eye contact
    • Sound
    • Dress and surrounding environment
  2. Getting clinician and client set up for effective services over video
    • Developing sufficient competence with one’s chosen technology
    • Managing Internet connections
    • Orienting clients to technology use
  3. Interstate/interjurisdictional practice
    • Discovering local laws regarding telehealth practice
    • Examples of conflicts between jurisdictional rules
    • Strategies for resolving conflicts between jurisdictional rules
  4. Setting up practice in new regions
    • Finding local services necessary for legal-ethical practice
    • Emergency/crisis processes in that area
    • Establishing necessary relationships with local authorities
  5. International practice issues overview

References

  • American Telemedicine Association. (2009). Practice Guidelines for Videoconferencing-Based Telemental Health. Author.
  • American Telemedicine Association. (2009). Evidence-Based Practice For Telemental Health. Author.
  • American Telemedicine Association. (2013). Practice Guidelines for Video-Based Online Mental Health Services. Author.
  • American Telemedicine Association. (2014). Core Operational Guidelines for Telehealth Services Involving Provider-Patient Interactions. Author.
  • Chen, M. (2002). Leveraging the asymmetric sensitivity of eye contact for videoconference. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Minneapolis, Minnesota: ACM Press: 49 – 56.
  • Gale, C., & Monk, A. F. (2000). Where am I looking? The accuracy of video-mediated gaze awareness. Perception & Psychophysics, (62), 586.
  • Gibson, J., & Pick, A. (1963). Perception of Another Person’s Looking Behavior. American Journal of Psychology, pp 386-394.
  • Lord, C. & Haith, M.M. (1974). The perception of eye contact. Perception & Psychophysics, (16), 413.

This course is part of our Telemental Health Certification Program, and cannot be purchased individually. 

Presented/Developed By

Roy Huggins, LPC NCCRoy Huggins, LPC NCC, is a counselor in private practice who also directs Person-Centered Tech. Roy worked as a professional Web developer for 7 years before changing paths, and makes it his mission to grow clinicians’ understanding of the Internet and other electronic communications mediums for the future of our practices and our professions.

Roy is an adjunct instructor at the Portland State University Counseling program where he teaches Ethics, and is a member of the Zur Institute advisory board. He has acted as a subject matter expert on HIPAA, security and clinical use of technology for Counseling licensure boards and both state and national mental health professional organizations. He has co-authored or authored 2 book chapters, and he routinely consults with mental health colleagues on ethical and practical issues surrounding tech in clinical practice. He served for 5 years on the board of the Oregon Mental Health Counselors Association and then the Oregon Counseling Association as the Technology Committee Chair.

He really likes this stuff.

Course Co-Presenters

Liath Dalton is a Ph.D candidate in Religious Studies. She began her academic career at Reed College and continued her graduate work at the University of Cape Town.

Liath is the Deputy Director for Person Centered Tech and runs our HIPAApropriateness review program. Through her combination of experience evaluating products for their utility and security in regards to how they can meet risk management needs and providing guidance to members around what product options will best meet their specific practice needs, Liath has an intimate knowledge of both what the practice tech needs are for mental health professionals and what it takes for a product to meet those needs.

Program Notices

Accuracy, Utility, and Risks Statement: The contents of this program are based primarily on publications from the US Department of Health and Human Services, publications from attorneys, and on guidelines and/or ethics codes of these professional organizations: AAMFT, ACA, APA, ATA, NASW, and NBCC. Some interpretation and analysis presented is made by the presenter, in consultation with knowledgeable colleagues and expert consultants. Statements about applications to technology are according to presenter’s understanding of the technology at the time of the program. The presenter may not know how to apply all principles discussed to every technology type or product. This program discusses strategies for complying with covered ethics codes and HIPAA, and for legally and ethically providing telemental health services. It may not include information on all applicable state laws. Misapplication of the materials, or errors in the materials, could result in security problems, data breaches, or non-compliance with applicable laws or ethics codes.

Conflicts of Interest: None.

Commercial Support: None.

This course is subject to our cancellation/refund policy and complaint policy.

This course is part of our Telemental Health Certification Program, and cannot be purchased individually. 

Man sitting on ledge with computer overlooking a city

2 CE Credit Hours. 1 Legal-Ethical Credit Hour. Continuing Education Session Replay w/ Review Exercises.

This course is part of our Telemental Health Certification Program, and cannot be purchased individually. 

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