TMCnet News
MENTAL HEALTHCARE WITHOUT BOUNDARIES [Behavioral Healthcare](Behavioral Healthcare Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Curious about the potential benefits ofvideo-based telehealth? Here's how to begin... In recent years, video communications (e.g. videoconferencing and telehealth) capabilities have gone from being expensive, hardware-based resources to inexpensive, cloud-based resources. Now, the driver for wide-scale adoption in healthcare is not what this technology costs, but rather how smoothly and seamlessly it can be integrated into existing clinical workflows, IT systems, and business environments. So how does one get started? Well, the first inclination may be to reach out to your local telecommunications or media services company. However, high-quality video no longer requires special hardware or expertise. You can now get high-quality, high-definition video on devices that you, your organization, or your employees already own (newer smartphones and tablet computers) and which many would-be patients/consumers now have or could readily obtain. As a rule of thumb, any mid to high-level personal or laptop computer sold in the last ten years is probably "videoconference" ready. On the following page you will find two approaches: a "minimal" list of requirements and a recommended "ideal" setup (Figure 1). Once you've got the requirements in place, the next step is to provision a video conferencing service. (Note: if you're using a PC, think of the PC as a phone, and the video service provider as the phone company, or carrier.) Generally, you can purchase HD video conferencing from a service provider for less than $50/month. This would provide a fully encrypted, HIPAA-compliant solution. And, many video service providers will sign business associate agreements, eliminating privacy and security issues. One such video-as-a-service (VaaS) provider is Connexus (www.connexusvideo. com), a solutions provider in both traditional as well as "new paradigm" video communications technologies. Connexus' president, Jonathan Schlesinger, states that one of the most import issues to consider when utilizing video in telehealth is what happens if a call gets interrupted for technological reasons: What are the patient support and recovery procedures ? "You want to make sure you have good procedures in place in the event a call gets interrupted," explains Schlesinger. "Therefore, while VaaS providers can get you provisioned with a service and started in virtual healthcare delivery in literally a few minutes, it is important to spend a good deal of time to put together a strategy for urgent psychiatry situations as well as routine therapy use." Indeed, if a patient says they are suicidal and shuts off their connection, organizations will be liable and need protocols in place to handle situations such as these. Resources to help These service providers - and other organizations like them - provide high quality Video as a Service (VaaS), plus needed support (Figure 2 and Figure 3). From a technology readiness point of view, Amnon Gavish, the SVP Vertical Market Solutions at Vidyo (www.vidyo.com), talks about other important but less known technology-related considerations. "One of the things we have seen is that the quality (defined as high definition and low latency) of video is much more important in mental health interactions than in other telemedicine scenarios, as mental healthcare encounters are typically much longer than a traditional 5-10 minute primary care or specialist interaction. These are longer consultations so key factors in the effectiveness of using video are supporting a smooth conversational flow and consistency of experience. If the experience becomes cumbersome and video issues affect the quality of a session, the effectiveness of the session can be compromised causing the physician and patient to lose interest in meeting in this manner. Gavish also stresses the need to ensure the patient on-boarding is quick and foolproof. One way to do this is to have the patient bring his or her home computer to an initial session, during which you can ensure it is properly set up to receive a telehealth visit. Another option is to ask your telchealth solution provider if their software can provide a single-click or web-based software installation and test process, so you won't have to provide user support. Whenever you're going to work with a patient at home, Gavish advises that "you need to do an excellent job at teaching them how to select and set up their equipment and ensure they have adequate lighting and privacy to ensure a good-quality experience." Because it is typical to begin a therapeutic relationship with a face-to-face encounter at the provider's office, there's almost always an opportunity to explain important requirements, provide educational materials, and help patients ensure that they're ready to receive a telehealth appointment. Utilizing cloud-based video visit services minimizes your financial exposure. "There are enormous business advantages with VaaS as you are able to scale up with a very, very low cost," states Schlesinger. "Putting together the brick and mortar infrastructure for that type of footprint would be cost prohibitive, but if an organization makes that investment later, the virtual practice will help them to determine where to locate based on the volume of calls they have made." Don't just think of videobased telehealth services as an extension of your current businesses. The growing market for virtual care encounters can open up new opportunities, too. One such virtual business is HealthLinkNow (www.HealthLinkNow.com), a fully integrated online clinic of specialists providing mental health services through secure video visit technology. According to Barb Johnston, CEO, "A huge part of a successful virtual model is understanding how to be flexible and integrate into the workflow of many different environments. For instance, many organizations prefer to set dedicated blocks of clinical time for patient care via virtual visits, while others want a hybrid model in which they may use some blocks of time but also offer 'on-demand' access to psychiatrists who may work from an office and also support a hospital in their area. This helps fill in the gaps for both the psychiatrist and the hospital." Even though organizations like HealthLinkNow offer another way to deliver virtual services, Johnston cautions that setting up your own service is not as easy as putting the technology in place. There are numerous factors to address before any organization can deliver services. Among these are licensing, credentialing, adjudication, support, and HIPAA compliance. Taking advantage of the knowledge and resources of major industry organizations can be a great help in considering and planning virtual care services. Resources While you might view virtual technologies as a more convenient and efficient means of delivering existing mental health services, think further in terms of how you can leverage these capabilities to deliver new products and services. For instance, Scott Alfieri, CEO of three behavioral health services companies including Crisis Management International (www.cmiatl.com) has recently rolled several of his operating organizations' assets into a holding company, R3 Continuum (The R3 stands for ready, respond, recover). "Having the technology capabilities within a single organization enables each of our service units to deliver existing services more efficiently, while supporting expansion into areas that are now not so easily or efficiently served with mental health services," states Alfieri. "And with the ease of deploying a cloud-based solution, our organizations can quickly and affordably provide that hightouch capability to make these programs successful." It has never been easier to begin deploying videobased telehealth visits in your lines of business. Thanks to continued advances in video communications and integration technologies, you can rapidly and cost-effectively expand your reach to service consumers, offer timely access to care, and maximize productivity and convenience for high-demand psychiatry or psychology providers. Peter Eggleston is the Chief Marketing Officer for SBR Health (www. sbrhealth.com), an innovative health technology company that provides solutions to enable the rapid and cost effective creation of virtual healthcare delivery networks by proving workflow and IT integration solutions for video communications. (c) 2014 Medquest Communications Inc. |