Telemedicine in the mental health field is booming and so are the HIPAA Compliance questions! In raw numbers, the percentage of patients seeking mental health support through telemedicine jumped from 39.4% in 2019 to 88.1% in 2022 according to JAMA Network Open.
As more and more practitioners move their practices partially or fully online, they are realizing that they need new communication tools that are compatible with both telemedicine technology and, most importantly, with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As HIPAA is focused on patient data confidentiality and security, patients are also hypersensitive to these issues, as well. Ensuring that all information is managed and contained in a secure, confidential manner allows patients to engage more openly, knowing their privacy is protected.
Fully secure and HIPAA-Compliant Digital Telehealth Consent Forms, Mental Health questionnaires and other HIPAA-Compliant online forms help to move mental health resources online, while meeting patients’ and regulators’ privacy and security expectations.
By using fully secure and HIPAA-Compliant forms, tests and questionnaires that can be securely filled out on any mobile or desktop device at home and submitted before the virtual visit, practitioners can save time prior to telemedicine appointments. By allowing the patients to fill out required documents at home, patients are more comfortable and less stressed that someone might be looking over their shoulder in an office.
As a result, virtual mental health appointments not only save time for patients on commute and waiting, but also improve the overall visit experience and further treatment. Providers utilizing secure online forms can collect information such as health histories, consent forms, and mental health questionnaire details while minimizing the risk of data breaches.
Using telemedicine for mental health as an alternative to in-person services, can benefit not only mental health practitioners, but also patients and their parents/guardians or caregivers. Some healthcare services such as initial consultations, refill, monitoring and second opinion consultations can be moved online or provided as an online option for patients. To get started with telemedicine, most practitioners usually begin with an easy to use HIPAA Telemedicine consent.
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