CORE Concepts in Telehealth Certificate Program

Estimated completion time: 45 minutes

Telehealth has expanded exponentially across the healthcare continuum with roots in rural healthcare where limited access to specialists required telecommunication services for appropriate coverage from a distance. Improved access to care, improved care and outcomes, workforce sustainability and lower costs continue to contribute to the expansion of telehealth practice through live audio/video, store and forward, remote patient monitoring and mobile health. However, challenges still abound in telehealth including technology, reimbursement, regulatory, and workflow changes. Drivers of change such as technology, workforce, policy, consumerism, payers and health systems will inevitably continue to push telehealth to new avenues of expansion.

Estimated completion time: 40 minutes

The advancement of technology will continue to allow it to have seamless integration into daily lives. In today’s world, technology is an expectation within healthcare delivery, both by the patient receiving care and the healthcare practitioner delivering care. Telehealth technology is on the forefront of changing how patients receive care virtually. Telehealth technology should not be a distraction, rather an integrated approach to the telehealth solution that is driven by clinical need, simplicity in use, and economic virtues.

Estimated completion time: 35 minutes

A healthcare practitioner’s bedside manner is crucial in building a positive patient-provider relationship. There is a difference between communicating with a patient in-person and communicating virtually. In telehealth, virtual bedside manner can be called screenside manner or webside manner. For this course, we will refer to it as telepresence. Telepresence is the ability for the telehealth practitioner to create an environment to build positive patient-provider rapport and create a meaningful encounter through valuable patient-provider virtual interaction. This course will outline important factors that lead to a positive patient-provider relationship such as environment, verbal and non-verbal communication considerations in preparation, introductions, setting expectations, recognition and follow up of a virtual visit.

Estimated completion time: 55 minutes

In many jurisdictions, clinical implementation of telehealth services is moving faster than legal and regulatory adoption. In some areas, the lack of legal contour can actually accelerate uptake and implementation, but significant state variances in telehealth definitions within law and regulation often make strategic, operational and clinical challenges abundant. This course will take a foundational look at the legal and regulatory challenges, both at a federal and state level, that create complexities to the telehealth landscape. In considering legal and regulatory complexities in the telehealth setting, the following areas will be discussed within the course: types of contracts, professional licensure, patient identification, consent, patient-provider relationship, prescribing practices, medical records, research, and quality assurance. Regulatory flexibilities temporarily granted during public health emergencies will also be addressed.

Estimated completion time: 45 minutes

Whether working within healthcare at the bedside or via telehealth, licensing, credentialing and privileging are essential for patient safety as well as to meet regulatory requirements. A telehealth service is considered to occur in the physical location of the patient, regardless of where the practitioner is located. A telehealth practitioner will need to apply and maintain licensure in all states where their patients are located and be credentialed and privileged in each facility where their patients are located. This interactive online course invites you to take a closer look at each of these processes individually including how they can impact telehealth practices, processes, timelines and budgets and how these processes work together to ensure patients are being cared for by a properly educated, trained and competent healthcare practitioner.

Estimated completion time: 35 minutes

Telehealth coverage and reimbursement is often identified as a significant barrier to providing telehealth services. Telehealth reimbursement guidelines vary greatly depending on state, practice, services, and payers. Guidelines continue to evolve as telehealth becomes a mainstream option for providing healthcare services. This course will review basic telehealth coverage and reimbursement guidelines, state variances in reimbursement policy to help the telehealth practitioner navigate telehealth reimbursement and billing.

Estimated completion time: 65 minutes

Telehealth spans a continuum of technologies that offer new ways to deliver care. Whether care is delivered at the bedside or via telemedicine, the patient needs to have a trusting relationship with the healthcare practitioner. Trust is an attitude of willingness to rely on another person, institution, or entity to act in ways that respect one’s interest- an expectation of how another person or entity will and should behave. Although the core principles of medical ethics do not change when utilizing telehealth, the array of possible patient-provider interactions give rise to specific telehealth ethical considerations. Through story-telling and interactive case-scenarios, this course will dive deeper into ethical considerations specific to the telehealth setting.