The American Telemedicine Association has released draft guidelines related to telestroke, pediatric telehealth and child and adolescent telemental health practice.
Here's what you need to know.
- Telestroke. The telestroke guidelines focus on defining key terms and determining clinical, administrative and technical guidelines. Two notable proposals include prioritizing interoperability and ensuring 24/7 operation, without any downtime "except when the technology unexpectedly malfunctions."
- Pediatrics. The pediatric guidelines focus on confidentiality, patient safety, legal considerations and equipment and environment during the clinical encounter. The guidelines note "Some services provided to adult patients by telehealth may not be easily adapted to or appropriate for pediatric patients due to physical factors (patient size) [and] legal factors (consent, confidentiality)."
- Child Telemental Health. The child and adolescent telemental health guidelines focus on administrative guidelines, legal issues, technology considerations, ethical factors and patient appropriateness. The document also breaks down potential telemental health interventions with youth, including general assessment and psychological testing, pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy approaches and case management.
All three of the draft practice guidelines are open for public comment through Feb. 17, 2017.