Home-Based Telemental Health: A Proposed Privacy and Safety Protocol and Tool.
J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol
; 31(7): 464-474, 2021 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1429159
ABSTRACT
Objectives:
To describe the development of a protocol and practical tool for the safe delivery of telemental health (TMH) services to the home. The COVID-19 pandemic forced providers to rapidly transition their outpatient practices to home-based TMH (HB-TMH) without existing protocols or tools to guide them. This experience underscored the need for a standardized privacy and safety tool as HB-TMH is expected to continue as a resource during future crises as well as to become a component of the routine mental health care landscape.Methods:
The authors represent a subset of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Telemental Health Consortium. They met weekly through videoconferencing to review published safety standards of care, existing TMH guidelines for clinic-based and home-based services, and their own institutional protocols. They agreed on three domains foundational to the delivery of HB-TMH environmental safety, clinical safety, and disposition planning. Through multiple iterations, they agreed upon a final Privacy and Safety Protocol for HB-TMH. The protocol was then operationalized into the Privacy and Safety Assessment Tool (PSA Tool) based on two keystone medical safety constructs the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist/Time-Out and the Checklist Manifesto.Results:
The PSA Tool comprised four modules (1) Screening for Safety for HB-TMH; (2) Assessment for Safety During the HB-TMH Initial Visit; (3) End of the Initial Visit and Disposition Planning; and (4) the TMH Time-Out and Reassessment during subsequent visits. A sample workflow guides implementation.Conclusions:
The Privacy and Safety Protocol and PSA Tool aim to prepare providers for the private and safe delivery of HB-TMH. Its modular format can be adapted to each site's resources. Going forward, the PSA Tool should help to facilitate the integration of HB-TMH into the routine mental health care landscape.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Child Health Services
/
Clinical Protocols
/
Adolescent Health Services
/
Telemedicine
/
Privacy
/
Patient Safety
/
COVID-19
/
Home Care Services
/
Mental Health Services
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol
Journal subject:
Pediatrics
/
Psychopharmacology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Cap.2021.0020
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