One Million Telehealth Visits in 2018! The VA continues to expand its utilization of telehealth. 2018’s numbers are 19% higher than last years.
This number is bound to greatly increase. The new Authority of Health Care Providers to Practice Telehealth rule, published in the Federal Register on October 2nd, 2017, allows for the VA to provide telehealth services directly to veterans’ homes across the country. In addition, the VA launched its new mobile VA Video Connect application, making video sessions easier for veterans. I suspect these recent developments have only begun to show a footprint. Only 105,300 of the million + video visits were conducted using the new mobile application.
Steven Levenkron, M.S., one of our alumni, is a ground breaking and well-known psychotherapist specializing in anorexia, self-mutilation, OCD and sexual abuse. He is the author of both fiction and non-fiction books which provide theoretical analyses in his areas of expertise. In a career that began in 1970, Levenkron has provided over sixty-thousand hours (and counting) of therapy, and boasts a 90% recovery rate for his patients.
Ray Barrett of Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC recently sat with Steven Levenkron to discuss his years of experience and the success he has experienced when using technology in his treatment of patients. Levenkron has found that abuse victims are more open when care is provided at a distance. When those clients find themselves alone and in a secure environment and at no physical risk from others, they tend to open more quickly and disclose to the provider - hence, care and treatment begin much faster. For abuse victims, non-verbal communication (such as email) is the most effective for opening up, followed by audio (telephone), and video conferencing. The least effective style of meetings for this clientele is same-location sessions.
When launching a telehealth program or any healthcare service payroll and HR services are often needed. In addition to the standard tasks of human capital management, healthcare organizations have the unique needs of tracking mandatory HIPAA training and the credentialing of clinicians. Finding a trustworthy payroll or HCM company that can handle all the HR needs of a startup or existing organization can be difficult.
The process of billing can be a great hassle for providers, and risky business. Often telehealth providers do not know how to correctly bill for their services and sometimes create legal and ethical issues by billing incorrectly. Debbie Duran the owner of Mental Health Billing & Consulting in Louisiana shares from her 28+ years of experience billing for mental health providers.
Telehealth services help to ensure that patients are able to receive the care they need when they need it. Same day care is available from providers using services such as virtual visits or video visits. By minimizing travel time, extending availability and increasing flexibility, caregivers can offer more opportunities for providing much-needed healthcare services.
Virtual counselors provide an array of online therapy options that include couples counseling, online marriage counseling, and online Christian counseling, to name just a few. Online therapists use a variety of mediums to communicate and "meet" with clients, providing the same standard of care as a traditional practice.