As practitioners in the field of telerehabilitation, our primary goal is to deliver effective and safe services that meet the needs of our clients. The recent publication "A Blueprint for Telerehabilitation Guidelines" offers invaluable insights into achieving this goal. This blog aims to help you improve your telerehabilitation skills by implementing the key outcomes of this research.
The comprehensive guidelines presented in the blueprint cover several critical aspects of telerehabilitation, including administrative, clinical, technical, and ethical principles. Below, we will highlight some of the essential takeaways that can help you elevate your practice.
Administrative Principles
- Ensure compliance with national, state, and local credentialing, privileging, and regulatory requirements for licensure and certification.
- Be aware of your locus of accountability and the necessary requirements, including liability insurance, when practicing telerehabilitation.
- Use appropriate billing and coding processes to designate that telerehabilitation services have been provided.
- Maintain traceable documentation of telerehabilitation sessions, ensuring that this documentation is accessible to both referring and consulting sites as appropriate.
- Adhere to advanced privacy and confidentiality requirements associated with telehealth technology.
Clinical Principles
- Follow existing discipline and national clinical practice guidelines when practicing via telehealth.
- Ensure that you have the appropriate education, training, and ongoing professional development to possess the necessary competencies for safe and quality service provision.
- Modify treatment materials, techniques, equipment, and settings as needed to deliver services in accordance with professional standards of care and evidence-based practice.
- Identify all individuals present in the therapy room at both sites before initiating the telerehabilitation session.
Technical Principles
- Ensure that equipment sufficient to support diagnostic and treatment needs is available and functioning properly during clinical encounters.
- Comply with relevant laws, regulations, and codes for technology and technical safety.
- Protect client health information through the use of authentication, encryption technology, and limiting access to need-to-know personnel.
- Train all personnel in equipment operation and troubleshooting, and maintain ongoing equipment maintenance for safety and effectiveness.
Ethical Principles
- Incorporate organizational values and ethics into policy and procedure documents for telerehabilitation.
- Comply with professional codes of ethics.
- Inform clients of their rights and responsibilities when receiving rehabilitation through telehealth technology, including their right to refuse services.
- Have a formal process in place for resolving ethical issues and policies to eliminate and reduce conflicts of interest.
By integrating these principles into your practice, you can ensure that your telerehabilitation services are effective, safe, and ethically sound. The guidelines provided in "A Blueprint for Telerehabilitation Guidelines" serve as an excellent template for developing discipline-specific standards, guidelines, and practice requirements.
For a more in-depth understanding and to explore further research, I highly encourage you to read the original research paper. A Blueprint for Telerehabilitation Guidelines
