The Ehealth, Telehealth and Telemedicine Blog

Video Makes The Case for Caution and Perspective in TeleMental Health and Coaching

Back in 1910, automobiles were just beginning to be mass-produced, roads were not paved, driver’s licenses were not issued, and people were experimenting with their new automobiles by driving everywhere they could, along dirt roads, over fields, any yes, into ditches. For a quick 10-minute video clip that illustrates how this analogy relates to telemental health and coaching, just look here: MP4 version or FLV version.

Seeking Social Media Policy Recommendations for Your Practice?

Whether you’re trying to develop a policy statement for your staff or need wording for your patient consent form, this Ohio State Medical Association document might be helpful. Here’s how to find the original document. Go to: http://www.osma.org/ and run a search for “social media”. Their recommendations will appear as a link at the top [...]

What’s Your Mental Health Professional Association Doing to Support Responsible Internet-based Telehealth Practice?

1. Are you aware of any other statements, ethical decisions, announcements or other documents for independent practitioners seeking guidance for practice through the Internet as produced by any of the large US professional associations?

2. Do you live in a country other than the US, and have a professional association that has published such a document?

If you are aware of any such resources, please leave links or details in the comments section below.

Mobile Apps: Their Impact on the Future of Counseling & Psychotherapy

Mobile, digital self-help is likely to soon outweigh what is happening on websites and once mobile apps get developed, they will be used far more than professional clinical mental health services. Clinicians will become more specialized. Mobile apps and other services available through desk-top computers will replace some of the more common, basic functions currently being served by the licensed professionals of today.

The Future of Healthcare Is Mobile?

With every passing day there seems to be more information surfacing about how healthcare is getting to be mobile. This is a link to a slide slide set posted in a Scottish website called “Scottish Healthcare: Improving Patient Care through Technology.” The slide set was posted 3/30/2010, and is called MHealth: The Future of Health Is Mobile.

Why Online Counseling and Psychotherapy Are the Future of Our Work

With our increasing mobile society, it’s only reasonable that practitioners learn to maintain the continuity of care when their patients cannot come to the office, leave town or relocate to other areas. There’s no need for our patients to be deprived of care when the technology currently exists for us to service them where ever they may be located.

Email, Chat Rooms or Skype for Mental Health: What about Mandated Reporting?

Licensed professionals are obligated to follow an accepted “standard of care” that included procedures to use for mandated reporting. First, that standard of care has not yet been expanded to include email, chat room or videoconferencing via public, unsecured VOIP-based platforms. Which companies use VoIP-based platforms for online video conferencing? Skype, Google Talk and Oovoo.