Telehealth & Behavioral Health Privacy: What Rural Providers Need to Know
Telehealth can help expand access to behavioral health treatment in rural communities, but providing care remotely can also raise important questions about patient privacy.
What should providers consider when patients join visits from places where others may be able to hear? How should organizations think about telehealth platforms, recordings, artificial intelligence tools, and other emerging technologies?
During this practical webinar, the Center of Excellence for Protected Health Information (CoE-PHI) will explore common privacy questions that arise when behavioral health services are delivered through telehealth. Presenters will discuss how HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2, the Federal Trade Commission Health Breach Notification Rule, and state privacy law considerations may apply to remote behavioral health care.
Through real-world examples, participants will explore practical privacy considerations related to virtual visits, personal devices, telehealth platforms, patient and family communication, recordings, AI tools, and other emerging issues.
The webinar will also introduce a new CoE-PHI resource designed to help providers and organizations navigate privacy considerations when delivering care remotely.
Objectives
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
• Describe how key federal laws and state law considerations may apply when behavioral health services are provided through telehealth
• Identify common privacy challenges that behavioral health organizations, providers, and patients may encounter when using telehealth in rural communities
• Apply learning to common scenarios involving the delivery of remote behavioral health services
• Identify practical steps and CoE-PHI resources that can help organizations and providers protect patient privacy when delivering behavioral health services remotely
Who Should Attend
• Mental health and substance use disorder treatment providers
• Behavioral health administrators
• Privacy and compliance professionals
• Quality improvement staff
• State and local behavioral health agency staff
• Rural health providers
• Others involved in delivering, supporting, or overseeing remote behavioral health services
Presenters
• Ashleigh Giovannini, JD, CoE-PHI Health Privacy Law Compliance Senior Associate
• Michael Graziano, MPA, CPHQ, CoE-PHI Project Director
• Madelynn Bovasso, MPH, CoE-PHI Project Manager
Topics Will Include
• Privacy during virtual behavioral health visits
• Personal devices and remote work
• Telehealth platforms and secure communication
• Patient and family communications
• Recording telehealth visits
• AI transcription and other emerging technologies
• Privacy and security considerations for organizations serving patients across multiple locations or states
• Practical telehealth privacy resources from CoE-PHI