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So, what are the challenges facing telehealth in nursing homes?

Our older generation is more vulnerable to the novel coronavirus crisis. The stats and figures coming out from many severely affected regions around the planet have made it crystal clear. The symptoms are extremely dire in our elder community. This means nursing homes and other old-age care facilities are also facing significant risks.

Nursing homes are already taking precautionary measures like banning visits, canceling recreational activities, etc. to ensure the elders in their care are safe from this deadly virus. However, this may cause further problems. Isolating the elders from the outside world and canceling their recreational activities can take a heavy toll on their mental health.

Thankfully, psychologists and behavioral practitioners are considered essential workers and can render their services via an array of telehealth technology at their disposal. Medicare and Medicaid services are already allowing psychologists and other behavioral practitioners to use video conferencing tools such as Skype, Zoom, etc. to provide care to our elder community.

Now getting Telehealth to work in such facilities can be extremely challenging. Many clients do not have their own personal devices. Plus, a psychologist also needs to seek cooperation from nursing home staff who are already exhausted due to the ongoing crisis.

There are certain tips and methods that can be employed, to make sure care is provided to the elderly in the confines of their nursing homes or institutes. In this article, we will be exploring some of those tips.

So without much further ado, let’s look at a few tips that can make the Telehealth process run smoothly for nursing home staff and residents alike.

Tips for Smooth Functioning of Telehealth Process

Establish an Onsite Telehealth Liaison

Assign one staff member from the nursing home with the task of setting up and transferring telehealth devices from one client to another. Make him in charge of making sure everybody gets their time on the device. While executing this task, the staff member should ensure that all infection control protocols are being followed diligently.

Contact Staff

Reach out to your point of contact in the Tele-health facility, and collaborate with them to establish a comprehensive telehealth service plan. Check whether the facility has an appropriate device to deploy telehealth services, or whether you would be required to provide it to them. Find out whether they already have a telehealth program being used in association with other medical providers, and ask whether you can jump on-board with them.

Be Flexible with Your Schedule

Practitioners who render telehealth services daily are bound to be exhausted or overburdened by sessions. Conducting sessions across multiple platforms in one day may seem reasonable to neuter the stress of rendering care. Catering to six patients over a period of three hours is more efficient than catering to 10 in an 8-hour shift. This will allow reprieve for both the practitioner as well as the telehealth liaison. So it is wise to consider lesser sessions per site.

Educate the Staff

The nursing staff is present in nursing home facilities to take care of the daily needs of their elderly residents. As such they may not be well versed with understanding mental health needs. So it becomes the responsibility of a practitioner to inform and educate the nurses on the essential nature of mental health care. Explain to them how loneliness, anxiety, fear of the virus can lead to complications of mental health in their residents. Make sure you appreciate them for upholding the fundamental principles of telehealth technology as you need to build an amicable relationship with them. This is all necessary for the telehealth process to work effectively.

Think on Your Feet

We can assume that most residents of nursing homes do not have their own personal devices. This makes rendering of telehealth services all the more challenging. Therefore it is essential for practitioners to think on their feet to ensure these barriers are surpassed without a problem. If the facility you are working with does not possess such technology, then go ahead and provide them one yourself. For residents that do have their own telephonic devices, simply note down their number and connect with them directly via any teleconferencing tool like Skype and Zoom.

Inform the Site about Medicare’s Telemedicine Facility Fee

Medicare administrative personnel have lifted requirements to bill an originating facility fee for conducting telehealth sessions. The facility is now allowed to bill facility fees for the duration of the ongoing public health emergency. So the originating facility is now eligible for payments of originating site facility fee, which is independently billable under Medicare Part B.

The fee can easily cover payment of an hourly rate employee, who can be used to deploy and manage telehealth services in such institutions. Inform the sites of this benefit, and it will make your job of getting telehealth care available in such facilities a tad bit easier.

Funding

You can always consider funding a telehealth program in such facilities by applying for finance for technology and telehealth devices under the CARES ACT. Nursing facilities are already eligible for funding under this act, so why not exploit it for the greater good.

The Future of Telehealth Nursing amidst a Pandemic

As you can see, being more engaging and understanding of the regulations around telehealth in nursing facilities can make the implementation of telehealth easier in LTC sites. 

As the crisis reaches its zenith, the need for telehealth only becomes more and more prevalent. We have to assume that the threat of this pandemic won’t be over soon. Therefore reliance on telehealth technology might very well become a norm. 

As a psychologist or mental health practitioner, you should do everything in your power to ensure the elderly get the care they need pertaining to mental health. The above tips ensure you do just that.

DENmaar’s TeleHealth Services

At DENmaar, our telehealth solution offers both patients and providers with a communication technology that allows the access and management of health care services from homes of patients or the practices of doctors. This teleconferencing feature allows practitioners to attend to their patients, on their computer screens, where-in they can consult and serve their clients without having to make them wait in their clinics or making them transit long distances.

All you have to do to access our feature, whether you are a provider or patient, is to sign up to our app and avail our telepsych feature.

Most folks have a very Hollywood image of what psych therapy or counseling is. They picture adults talking to their psychiatrists while resting on large couches or laid-back comfortably on sofas. However, there is so much more to that concept. Today online therapy has successfully replaced physical consultations, thanks to conferencing via smartphones and computers.

Therapy, however, is equally common if not more frequent with children. Many parents are reasonably cynical about signing up for online child therapy or counseling. They have doubts on what impact it might have on their child.

To clear the air around the topic, we will look at how exactly online child therapy works its pros, cons, and its implications on the future of therapy.

So How Does Online Therapy works

Thanks to the advancements in technology, there are many licensed practitioners and behavioral experts who conduct child therapy online. The process is similar to the treatment they would have received in physical sessions.

These appointments usually take place via video, live chat, phone, or simple messaging. Smartphones, tablets, computers are all effective players in the dissemination of therapy. If there are parents involved, then the therapist may request parental input into the matter affecting their child. Parent-child online therapy sessions may be conducted to find out more about the child’s history or history of the mental illness in the family.

Treatment options are discussed, once a thorough assessment of the child is conducted. Rest assured there is confidentiality between the practitioner and the parents regarding the diagnosis of the child.

The most popular form of Online Therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is one of the most popular therapies provided online today. It helps individual practitioners identify and change destructive thoughts in children. Researches have proven that online sessions are just as effective in conduct as their physical counterparts. 

There are many other therapies as well that are equally important but cannot be provided online. Play therapy (Used to express emotions and act out situations) for example, cannot be done without physical presence.

Similarly, Sand tray therapy and other such interactive therapies are better performed in-person rather than online.

The Pros of Online Child therapy

• •   Kids can meet their therapists from the comfort of their homes
• •   Kids already comfortable with technology will find online therapy no big deal.
• •   Appointments can be scheduled more conveniently, according to the convenience of both the therapist as well as the child
• •   Online therapy is more accessible, reaching out to rural areas as well
• •   Online therapy is cheaper than its counterpart

Cons

• •   Technological problems can hinder the delivery of seamless therapy
• •   Parents may feel as If they are being left out
• •   Online therapy isn’t appropriate for all conditions, Therapies like Play therapy, sand tray etc. can only be delivered with in-person intervention.
• •   Online therapists might reject insurance

The Bottom Line

Online therapy provides children with a much more convenient way to communicate with their therapists. Depending on the child age, preferences and needs, a child can be allowed to communicate to his/her therapist in a way that best suits them.

Response to online therapy for children is quite mixed today. While some reports are positive, others claim that their experience was too impersonal. So while some children may struggle, others find it easier to cope with the technology. It depends and varies according to the conditions of the children.

DENmaar’s TeleHealth Services

At DENmaar, our telehealth solution offers both patients and providers with a communication technology that allows the access and management of health care services from homes of patients or the practices of doctors.  This teleconferencing feature allows practitioners to attend to their patients, on their computer screens, where-in they can consult and serve their clients without having to make them wait in their clinics or making them transit long distances. 

All you have to do to access our feature, whether you are a provider or patient, is to sign up to our app and avail our telepsych feature.

As the world struggles to recover from the tragedy of an ongoing pandemic, Telehealth technology has emerged as a critical messiah that is not only helping save lives but is also determined to save our way of life pertaining to the impending economic crisis.

Telehealth technology has allowed patients to continue availing healthcare, while simultaneously making sure practitioners and their clinics stay operational and financially viable as the world faces an uncertain future in lockdown.

What is Telehealth technology?

Telehealth can very simply be defined as technology that facilitates the delivery of health care, health information and health education via remote technologies like computers or mobile phones. Telehealth provides patients with the tool to consult with their doctors from the comfort of their respective abodes. If recent times are taken into consideration, it allows for face to face communication without compromising on the concept of physical distancing. 

The Benefits of Telehealth include:

• •   Making Healthcare accessible for rural and isolated communities.
• •   Access to behavioral and other medical specialists
• •   Making services available for communities and people with limited mobility, or transportation options
• •   Improved communication between doctors and patients
• •   Improved self-management of health care practice

The below article is focused on how pervasive telehealth technology has become in our healthcare industry. We will be specifically focusing on some of its key applications in terms of providing efficient and adequate care.

So without much further let’s get started.

Telehealth Technology Applications

Today, many technologies are being pumped into the industry with the promise of forever associating telehealth with the service of healthcare. These technologies include mHealth – smartphones and tablets for telehealth, remote patient monitoring, digital photography, audio and video technology, forward and store technology and many more.

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) 

Remote Patient Monitoring, aka RPM is technology that involves collection, reporting, transmission and evaluation of crucial patient health data via electronic devices. RPM technologies require patients to measure their health data and then transmit it to their physicians for further evaluation. RPM technologies in the form of wearable electronic devices are now being used to collect an array of crucial patient health information like cardiac stats, oxygen levels, and respiratory rates.

(mhealth) Mobile health Telehealth technology

You would be hard strung to find an individual today who does not own and use a smartphone. Smartphones have become tools that have defined human civilization at the turn of the 21st century. Smartphones can now be used for entertainment, calculations, business, education, financial purposes, and so much more.

So it is only fair that it be used to make healthcare convenient. mHealth basically refers to mobile apps and tools that patients use on their smartphones or tablets to avail healthcare. These applications allow users to set medications, appointment reminders and share information with their dedicated practitioners, just like DENmaar’s mental health medical billing application.

Thanks to mHealth, patients can now use asthma or diabetes management tools or talk face to face with their doctors via video conferencing. 

Video Conferencing

Perhaps the most relevant, considering the times we are living in; video conferencing has been such a sweet gift of science to mankind. Loved ones can now interact with each other daily and quite conveniently from anywhere around the world, path-breaking trade deals can be closed immediately without any communication barriers, and of course, doctors can advise their patients without making them wait in the clinic or travel long distances.

Real-time video communication platforms are helping doctors and clinicians take better care of their patients without meeting them in-person. This technology has facilitated healthcare for rural inhabitants and soldiers and militants stuck away from civilization.

Store and Forward

Store and forward technology refer to the usage of storage and transmission technology to capture, store and transmit patient health information for asynchronous healthcare delivery. Information like CAT scans, MRI’s, photos, videos, etc. are captured from patients and sent to assigned specialists and practitioners to assist with their healthcare. Technology like secure email platforms, servers, and routers are used to temporarily store this information and send it to the appropriate recipient in time.

Future of Telehealth technology

With many big players jumping in to meddle with this technology, you can bet Telehealth technology will be a key healthcare player in times to come ahead. Big names like Amazon and Wal-Mart have already begun operations on introducing their own version of telehealth technology. We can hope that telehealth technology can work effectively in bringing down healthcare costs and make healthcare more accessible to all.

DENmaar’s TeleHealth Services

At DENmaar, our telehealth solution offers both patients and providers with a communication technology that allows the access and management of health care services from homes of patients or the practices of doctors.  This teleconferencing feature allows practitioners to attend to their patients, on their computer screens, where-in they can consult and serve their clients without having to make them wait in their clinics or making them transit long distances. 

All you have to do to access our feature, whether you are a provider or patient, is to sign up to our app and avail our telepsych feature.