Telehealth Certification Institute

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Montana

 

Counselors

We are not aware of any specific rules and regulations of the practice of telemental health services for Counselors.

Social Workers

We are not aware of any specific rules and regulations of the practice of telemental health services for Social Workers.

Marriage and Family Therapists

We are not aware of any specific rules and regulations of the practice of telemental health services for MFTs.

Psychologists

Source

Rule: 24.189.301

"(5) "Defined professional relationship" means a relationship in which a licensee or license applicant provides diagnostic, assessment and/or therapeutic services to a client. A defined professional relationship shall be initially established in a context where services are provided:

(a) in person and face-to-face; or

(b) transmitted via electronic or related methods. If provided under this subsection, the context must also be:

(i) two-way;

(ii) interactive;

(iii) real-time;

(iv) simultaneous;

(v) continuous; and

(vi) providing for both audio and visual interaction.

(6) "Distant site" means a site where a health care provider who provides health care services is located while providing these services via a telecommunications system.

(7) "Health care provider" means health care provider as defined in 33-22-138, MCA.

(8) "In-person encounter" means that a licensee and the patient are in the physical presence of each other during the licensee-patient encounter.

(9) "Licensee" means the holder of a current license issued under 37-17-302 or 37-17-403, MCA.

(10) "Licensee-patient relationship" means that:

(a) the licensee agrees to undertake diagnosis and/or treatment of a person seeking services from the licensee; and

(b) the person agrees to be diagnosed and/or treated by the licensee whether or not there has been an in-person encounter between the licensee and the person.

(11) "NCCA" means the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.

(12) "One year's academic residency" means continuous, full-time, active engagement by the student in the elements of the training program while the student is physically present during one academic year at the educational institution granting the doctoral degree.

(a) Critical components of the residency must include:

(i) adequate opportunity for the resident to:

(A) concentrate on required coursework;

(B) obtain professional training and scholarship;

(C) work closely with professors, supervisors, and other students; and

(D) acquire the habits, skills, knowledge, and insights necessary for attaining a doctoral degree in psychology; and

(ii) adequate time for faculty, training staff, supervisors, and administrators to adequately assess all elements of the student's competence including, at a minimum:

(A) emotional stability and well-being;

(B) interpersonal competence;

(C) professional development; and

(D) personal fitness to practice psychology.

(b) The year of residency that uses face-to-face contact for shorter durations throughout the year or that uses video teleconferencing or other electronic means is not acceptable.

(c) The year of acceptable academic residency experience shall consist of two semesters or three quarters with continuous experience on campus, in no less than three month increments, and be accrued in no more than 18 months.

(d) Full-time experience shall consist of at least 30 hours on campus per week, but no more than 45 hours per week each contiguous week of the semester or quarter. The board will consider situations that are not full-time on a case-by-case basis.

(e) Active engagement in the elements of the training program shall be fully documented by a log of residency activities on a form prescribed by the board and signed by the student's academic advisor. Such residency activities must:

(i) include both faculty-to-student and student-to-student face-to-face (personal) interaction;

(ii) be conducted by the psychology faculty of the institution at least 90 percent of the time;

(iii) be fully documented by the institution; and

(iv) relate substantially to the program and course content.

(f) An internship requirement cannot be used to fulfill the academic year requirements of the residency.

(g) Video conferencing will not be allowed to satisfy the requirements of the academic residency.

(h) The institution must clearly document its assessment and evaluation of the applicant's performance.

(13) "Originating site" means a site where a patient is located at the time health care services are provided via a telecommunications system or where an asynchronous store-and-forward service originates.

(14) "Psychological resident" means a supervisee following board approval of a supervised postdoctoral supervision proposal. This title shall be:

(a) used only in conjunction with activities and services of the postdoctoral supervised training to fulfill the experience requirements;

(b) used for a maximum of five years; and

(c) identified for clients, third-party payers, and other entities.

(15) "Synchronous interaction" means a real-time interaction between a patient located at an originating site and a health care provider located at a distant site.

(16) "Telehealth" means the mode of delivering health care services via electronic information and communication technologies while a patient is at an originating site and a licensee is at a distant site, with or without an intervening health care provider. Telehealth includes synchronous interactions and asynchronous store-and-forward transfers delivered over a secure connection that complies with the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, 42 U.S.C. 1320d, et seq. The term does not mean an audio-only telephone conversation, an e-mail or instant messaging conversation, or a message sent by facsimile transmission."

Refer to the source provided for all requirements and limitations.

Psychiatrists

Source

PRACTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR PHYSICIANS USING TELEMEDICINE

“(1) Treatment of a patient who is physically located in Montana by a licensee using telemedicine occurs where the patient is physically located.

(2) The licensee using telemedicine in the treatment and care of patients in Montana shall adhere to the same standards of care required for in-person medical care settings.

(3) A physician-patient relationship may be established for purposes of telemedicine:

(a) by an in-person medical interview and physical examination when the standard of care requires an in-person encounter;

(b) by consultation with another licensee or health care provider who has a documented relationship with the patient and who agrees to participate in, or supervise, the patient's care; or

(c) through telemedicine if the standard of care does not require an in-person encounter.

(4) The licensee using telemedicine in patient care may prescribe Schedule II drugs to a patient only after first establishing a physician-patient relationship through an in-person encounter which includes a medical interview and physician examination.

(5) The licensee using telemedicine in patient care shall:

(a) make available to the patient verification of the licensee's identity and credentials;

(b) verify the identity of the patient;

(c) establish a physician-patient relationship prior to initiating care;

(d) obtain a medical history sufficient for diagnosis and treatment in keeping with the applicable standard of care prior to providing treatment, issuing prescriptions, or delegating the patient's medical services to other health care providers;

(e) delegate the patient's medical care only to health care providers:

(i) who are known by the licensee to be qualified and competent to perform the delegated services;

(ii) with whom the patient has an established provider-patient relationship; or

(iii) who have physical or electronic access to the licensee for consultation and follow-up while the patient is under the licensee's or the delegee's care;

(f) securely maintain and make timely available:

(i) to the patient or the patient's representative all relevant medical and billing records received or produced in connection with the patient's care; and

(ii) to other health care providers, all medical records received or produced in connection with the patient's care.” 

History: 37-3-203, 37-3-301, MCA; IMP, 37-3-301, MCA; NEW, 2018 MAR p. 2048, Eff. 10/20/18.

Refer to the source provided for all requirements and limitations.

Montana Professional Regulation/Health & Safety Online Prescribing

No reference found.

Nurses

“As a party state to the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), Montana issues multistate licenses to nurses and applicants who reside in the state and recognizes multistate licenses issued by other party states, for practice in Montana. A nurse holding a multistate license is entitled to practice in any NLC party state, but must comply at all times with the laws of the state where he or she is currently practicing.”

“It should be noted that not every state in the US is an NLC party state; a map of participating states, as well as further resources related to the NLC, are available on the Nurse Licensure Compact website.”

Refer to the source provided for all requirements and limitations.

Montana Professional Regulation/Health & Safety Online Prescribing

No reference found.

Medicaid Telehealth Parity Law

MT Dept. of Public Health and Human Svcs., Medicaid and Medical Assistance Programs Manual, General Information
for Providers, Telemedicine (May 2019)

Refer to the source provided for all requirements and limitations.

Originating Site Reimbursement: The Member's residence can be an originating site

Source: MT Dept. of Public Health and Human Svcs., Medicaid and Medical Assistance Programs Manual, General Information
for Providers, Telemedicine (May 2019) 

Private Pay Telehealth Parity Law

Source: MT Code Sec. 33-22-138

"Coverage for telemedicine services. (1) Each group or individual policy, certificate of disability insurance, subscriber contract, membership contract, or health care services agreement that provides coverage for health care services must provide coverage for health care services provided by a health care provider or health care facility by means of telemedicine if the services are otherwise covered by the policy, certificate, contract, or agreement.
(2) Coverage under this section must be equivalent to the coverage for services that are provided in person by a health care provider or health care facility."

Refer to the source provided for all requirements and limitations.

Payment Parity

We are not aware of any explicit payment parity.

Permission for the Temporary Practice of Clinicians Licensed Outside the State

We are not aware of any permission that allows for services delivered by out-of-state providers.

Note: As this is a free resource and Rules and Regulations regarding Telehealth are always changing, we appreciate any updates or corrections. They can be emailed to us at [email protected] with a link to the source or a citation of the rule or regulation.

Telemental Health Training Certificate Program

Telemental health is not a separate service from mental health services. All state licensing boards require that licensed clinicians follow all the regulations for practicing under their license no matter what medium of communication is used. All licensing boards also require that clinicians only practice within the boundaries of their competence. This usually requires education, continuing education, and/or supervision in telemental health. Complete our telehealth training program to cover all the essential competencies of providing telemental health services and earn the THTC (Telemental Health Training Certificate).