The Promise and Challenge of Telehealth in Behavioral Health and Human Services Telehealth, remote health, virtual care—however it is described, providing behavioral health and human services in both electronic and traditional ways is one of the biggest changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID and the rise of Telehealth During the COVID-19 pandemic, the … Read more
Streamline Partners with Community Connections in Washington, DC Oakbrook Terrace, IL – [September 21, 2021] – Community Connections of Washington, DC (CCDC) has selected Streamline’s SmartCare™ as their organization’s next Electronic Health Record solution. The CCDC team was looking for a technologically advanced web-based system that could provide smoother connectivity both in the community and … Read more
For behavioral health providers, offering telehealth services has never been easier. Federal health officials have relaxed many HIPAA rules to encourage providers to offer more telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is good news for behavioral health providers who have been wanting to launch telehealth services but are concerned about staying compliant with HIPAA rules. Here is what the policy changes, including increased HIPAA flexibility, mean for your practice.
Oakbrook Terrace, IL – [July 21, 2020] — Streamline Healthcare Solutions is proud to announce they have launched a new Telehealth Services feature within their all-inclusive EHR, SmartCare. Clients will have the ability to deliver care safely and effectively using SmartCare’s Telehealth Services application.
Innovation in healthcare technology, from EHR software to videoconferencing software to patient monitoring devices, has contributed to significant growth in telehealth. More recently, both physical and behavioral health providers have offered telehealth to their clients to reduce in-person and prevent viral spread during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Because of this, the U.S. federal government has encouraged more providers to adopt and use telehealth appropriately.
However, many behavioral health providers had not yet implemented a telehealth program when the COVID-19 emergency began. Behavioral health organizations may be concerned about the financial or time costs of adding telehealth solutions and training staff. Providers may be concerned about whether telehealth solutions can adequately protect client privacy and data. Fortunately, there are many methods and resources for addressing these concerns.
On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced an executive order to expand telehealth services in the state of IL in response to COVID-19. As the outbreak of the virus continues to grow in our communities, it is important that we practice social distancing, which is maintaining a safe distance of at least … Read more
President Donald Trump signed into law the “Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020” on Friday, March 6, after it passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 96-1. This bill provides $8.3 billion in emergency funding to help U.S. researchers and healthcare providers address the outbreak of COVID-19.
With a rapidly growing need for better mental health care, easy accessibility for treatment sources is vital. Due to technology advances, there are more possibilities than ever to find client care in a reliable, secure way. According to a 2017 report published by Mental Health America, although more than 43 million Americans have a mental health condition, many of those individuals lack access to healthcare. As a growing epidemic that affects a vast number of people globally, innovative solutions are being developed and utilized to change the landscape of mental health care for the better.