Telehealth, e-therapy, online therapy, online counseling, tele-medicine, e-counseling, or tele-mental health: all refer to the use of digital technology to provide clinical services, such as assessment and treatment. Telehealth activities may include providing clinical services by telephone, email, chats, interactive televideo communications technology such as Skype, or via virtual reality (VR) such as Second Life (SL), to individuals in conjunction with face-to-face (f2f) therapy or with no in-person contact. States and organizations vary in their definitions of telehealth. TABLE OF CONTENTS U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Telehealth Organizations That Provide Platforms for Online Therapy, E-Therapy, or "Tele-Mental Health" Use of Skype in Telehealth Telehealth Across State Lines Second Life & Virtual Realities Cloud Storage & HIPAA Insurance, Billing, Reimbursement & CPT Codes Telehealth Technologies & Related Matters Psychotherapists' Professional Associations on Telehealth Professional Telehealth Associations Telemedicine Reimbursment Handbook State Licensing Boards Federal Resources, Laws, and Regulations Medicare & Medicaid: Reimbursement of Telehealth University Centers for Telemedicine Online Telehealth Publications and Journals Miscellaneous Resources Psychology of the Web & Telehealth Bibliographies Telehealth Updates Guidelines U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Telehealth Visit http://www.hrsa.gov/telehealth/ for the website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration's website. This useful site provides a report on telehealth licensure requirements and trends for many health professions across the country. By clicking on Publications you then have access to their Telemedicine Licensure Report, the document "Telemental Health: Delivering Mental Health Care at a Distance," and a number of other useful documents and links. Organizations That Provide Platforms for Online Therapy, E-Therapy, or "Tele-Mental Health": Make sure to verify that the platform you choose to use is HIPAA compliant and complies with your state, federal, and your state and national professional organizations rules, codes of ethics, laws, and/or regulations. Breakthrough: www.breakthrough.com California LiveVisit: californialivevisit.com CMS Telehealth: www.cmstelehealth.com COPE Today: www.copetoday.com E Mental Health Center: www.e-mhc.com MDLiveCare Health Services Inc.: www.mdlivecare.com MyTherapyNet with Kathleene Derrig-Palumbo and  Foojan Zeine: www.mytherapynet.com/ Nefsis: www.nefsis.com Panic Anxiety Stress Society (PASS): www.PASSN.com Secure Telehealth: www.securetelehealth.com Tandberg: www.tandberg.com TherapyHosting.com: www.therapyhosting.com Voyager National Telepsychiatry Network (Using Skype): www.telepsychiatry.com Use of Skype in Telehealth: The use of Skype in telehealth has been proliferated in recent years. While most expert seem to be satisfied with Skype level of security and view it to be HIPAA compliant, some still question it. Some argue that Skype-to-Skype voice, video and instant message conversations are likely to be more secure that conventional landlines or cellular phone conversation, which are not encrypted. Following are some resources that discuss whether Skype is a secure and/or HIPAA compliant format. Utilizing Skype in psychotherapy http://www.zurinstitute.com/skype_telehealth.html Blogs on "Is Skype HIPAA-compliant?" http://adventuresintelepsychiatryblog.patrickbarta.com/tag/skype/ Online Therapy Institute on Skype and HIPAA: http://www.onlinetherapyinstituteblog.com/?tag=hipaa To read on Skype security setting: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/security/detailed-security/ On HIPAA PHI Compliance: HIPAA Security, Best Practices, Policies, Rules and Regulations: http://hipaa-encryption.com/HIPAA-Compliance/phi-encryption/video-encryption-requirements  Blog on Skype and HIPAA: Myth Buster: http://voyagerllc.blogspot.com/2009/06/skype-and-hipaa-myth-buster.html For a dialogue abut use of Skype in Telehealth, click here. Video Conferencing sites and HIPAA: http://www.nefsis.com/Best-Video-Conferencing-Software/video-conferencing-hipaa.html Telehealth Services that use Skype Voyager Telepsychiatry LLC: http://www.telepsychiatry.com Telehealth Across State Lines: Zur, 2011: http://www.zurinstitute.com/ telehealth_across_state_lines-zur.html A video on a Colorado Psychiatrist who practiced across state lines: This is a unique case that has served as the 'poster child' for concerns regarding practicing across state lines. For video, click here. A different view on practicing cross states' line than the CO case above is Prince v. Urban (1996) 49 Cal.App.4th 1056 [57 Cal.Rptr.2d 181]: http://law.justia.com/cases/ california/caapp4th/49/1056.html For an excellent analysis of risk management of across state lines issues that is realistic, informed, intelligent, and not fear-based, go to: Harris, E & Younggren, J. N. (2011). Risk management in the digital world. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 42 (6), 412-418. For Abstract: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/pro/42/6/412/ Insurance, Billing, Reimbursement and CPT Codes for Telehealth Services: Behavioral Health Innovation on Reimbursement: http://www.onlinecounselingplatforms.com/finances Insurance and Online Therapy: http://www.onlinetherapyinstituteblog.com/?p=534 Billing for phone and electronic sessions: http://www.acpinternist.org/ archives/2008/01/billing.htm CPT for telephone care (non-physician): http://www.memo- snap.com/memo-snap/cpt.htm See P. 55, Appendix B – Listing of CPT Codes by Payer at Telemedicine Reimbursement Handbook: http://www.cteconline.org/_pdf/ Telemedicine-Reimbursement-Handbook.pdf Medicare & Medicaid: Reimbursement of Telehealth:  http://www.zurinstitute.com/telehealthresources.html#medicare Telehealth Fact Sheet, (Search for "CPT" or "psychotherapy") at http://www.telemedicine.com/pdfs/ TelehealthSrvcsfctsht.pdf Reimbursement of online therapy: http://issuu.com/onlinetherapyinstitute/ docs/tilt_issue5_final/56 Cloud Storage & HIPAA: The use of cloud storage of medical records has proliferated in recent years.  There are numerous companies that provide cloud storage and claim to be HIPAA compliant. A couple of examples are: My Docs Online: http://www.mydocsonline.com/HIPAA.html Symform: http://www.symform.com/hipaa.aspx Article titled "Dropbox is not HIPAA compliant": http://www.hipaasecurenow.com/index.php/dropbox-is-not-hipaa-compliant Second Life (SL) & Virtual Realities (VR): On the use of Second Life in PsychoEducation and other applications: http://www.WorkingRelationships.biz  Second life and education: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Second_Life_Education Online Therapy Institute: http://www.onlinetherapyinstitute.com/ Virtual Reality Therapy: http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/vrpain/SCIAMFin.pdf Videos on VR: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=3365576n http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQgKEp_NhHk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHmXYhS4HQI&feature=related Telehealth Technologies and Related Matters: Voyager Telepsychiatry: A Forum On Home-Based Telepsychiatry: http://voyagerllc.blogspot.com Center for Telehealth and Cybermedicine Research (CfTH): http://hsc.unm.edu/som/telehealth/equipment.shtml Video-Conferencing Products: Polycom: http://www.polycom.com Tanberg: http://www.tandberg.com Videoconferencing Resources: http://www.vide.net/cookbook/cookbook.en/list_topics.php?topic= 1&sequence=0&name=Preface InPlace Medical Solution: http://www.inplacemedical.com.  Psychotherapists' Professional Associations on Telehealth: American Counseling Association (ACA). Ethical Standards for Internet Online Counseling. (Section A.12.) http://www.counseling.org/Resources/CodeOfEthics/TP/Home/CT2.aspx American Psychological Association (APA). Statement on Services by Telephone, Teleconferencing, and Internet. http://www.apa.org/ethics/education/telephone-statement.aspx National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). The Practice of Internet Counseling. http://www.nbcc.org/Assets/Ethics/nbcc-codeofethics.pdf Codes of Ethics on Telehealth.   Professional Telehealth Associations: American Telemedicine Association: www.americantelemed.org Canadian Society of Telehealth: http://www.cst-sct.org International Society for Mental Health Online (ISMHO): http://www.ismho.org/ International Society for Telemedicine - http://www.isft.net Telemedicine Reimbursement Handbook By  The California Telemedicine & eHealth Center (CTEC) 60 page document at http://www.cteconline.org/_pdf/Telemedicine-Reimbursement-Handbook.pdf  TABLE OF CONTENTS The Impact of State Legislation on Telemedicine Reimbursement Understanding Telemedicine Legal and Regulatory Issues Privacy and Security Credentialing and Privileging of Providers Provider Licensing Patient Consent Major Payors for Telemedicine Reimbursement Federal and State Programs Medicare Federally Qualified Health Centers Medicaid (Medi-Cal) Healthy Families California Children’s Services County Medical Services Program Commercial or Private Insurance Blue Cross of California Appendices Appendix A – Listing of HPSAs for Medicare Coverage Appendix B – Listing of CPT Codes by Payer Glossary of Terms References State Licensing Boards: For listing of States' Licensing Boards on Telehealth, click here. Federal Resources, Laws, and Regulations: Federal Office for the Advancement of Telehealth: http://telehealth.hrsa.gov/ Congressionally-Mandated Telehealth Grants: http://granteefind.hrsa.gov/searchbyprogram.aspx?select=D1B&index=30&year= Department of Defense Telemedicine: http://www.tatrc.org/ National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA): http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ Rural Health Care Corporation Telemedicine in the Veterans Administration: http://www.universalservice.org/rhc/ Medicare & Medicaid: Reimbursement of Telehealth Medicare Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2005, H.R. 2807: Update by GovTrack.us: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-2807 Medicaid Telehealth, Nebraska: http://www.hhs.state.ne.us/med/telehealthFAQ.htm University Centers for Telemedicine: East Carolina University Telemedicine Program Foresight Institute Georgetown University Kentucky TeleCare MIT Telemedicine Oklahoma State University, College of Osteopathic Medicine Texas Tech University Center for Telemedicine University of California, Davis University of California, San Diego University of Florida, Center for Telehealth University of Kansas Medical Center's Telemedicine Department University of Michigan Health System, Telemedicine Resource Center University of Texas Medical Branch University of Vermont/Fletcher Allen Health Care Telemedicine Utah Telehealth Network (UTN) Yale – Telemedicine Online Telehealth Publications and Journals: Bio-IT World: http://www.bio-itworld.com/ Journal of Medical Internet Research: http://www.jmir.org/2002/2/e12/ Telemedicine and e-Health Journal: http://www.liebertpub.com/products/product.aspx?pid=54 Telemedicine Today: http://www.telemedtoday.com/ Virtual Medical Worlds: http://www.telemedtoday.com/ Miscellaneous Resources: Behavioral Health Innovation at http://behavioralhealthinnovation.com provides consulting, training and pioneering services to bring practical business system improvements. Services included Marketing/Business development/Referral system development Mental health marketing systems Operations efficiency consulting Counselor training and supervision Mental health management training New program launch Telemedicine and Online counseling systems design, implementation, training and consultation Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) is an organization working to increase integration of telehealth technologies into CA health care system: http://www.connectedhealthca.org Grohol, J.M., E-Therapy Essays: http://psychcentral.com/best Maheu, M., Resources on Telehealth: http://www.telehealth.net Center for Telehealth: http://www.ttuhsc.edu/telemedicine/ MyTherapyNet - Host Online Therapy http://www.mytherapynet.com/ Myths & Realities of Online Clinical Work http://www.ismho.org/myths_n_realities.asp Psychology of the Web & Telehealth: Articles By Dr. John Suler: http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/psycyber.html Articles By Dr. Azy Barak: http://construct.haifa.ac.il/~azy/azy.htm Articles by Dr. Larry Rosen: http://www.csudh.edu/psych/lrosen.htm Related Online course for CE Credits  Psychology of the Web Internet Addiction Additional resources on Psychology of the Web and Internet Addiction http://www.zurinstitute.com/internetaddiction.html http://www.zurinstitute.com/onlinegaming.html http://www.zurinstitute.com/internet_addiction.pdf http://www.zurinstitute.com/cyberbulling.html More resources an updates at http://www.zurinstitute.com/articles.html#internetgaming Bibliographies: Fully searchable index with over 1000 relevant references by TeleMental Health Institute: http://telementalhealth.com/bibliography Center for Telemedicine & Telehealth: http://www2.kumc.edu/telemedicine/research/index.html References Related to the Internet & Psychology, by Azy Barak, PhD: http://construct.haifa.ac.il/~azy/refindx.htm Telehealth Updates Guidelines For Telehealth

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