Keeping the Office Going: Ethical and Legal Telehealth Practices for the Provider and Staff

The benefits and importance of being able to provide effective remote services to clients as well as keep an office running with staff is becoming more apparent as technologies improve, and potential risks such as severe seasonal influenza or coronavirus make remote provision of telehealth services and telecommuting more critical. Recent federal, state and employer telehealth rules for telehealth as well as employer telecommuting policies are being relaxed to comply with calls for emergency social distancing.

This 2-hour webinar will address how you can effectively deliver telehealth from home and/or keep your office going when staff needs to stay home for everyone's safety. The material will include clinical, legal, ethical and practical issues regarding adopting cooperative yet appropriate attitudes; setting limits on distractions with oneself; communicating with family, friends, and co-workers to establish clear boundaries; accountability with office-mates and staff; attending to legal and ethical issues when working from home, including how to think about a home workspace to prevent the unprofessional sharing of inappropriate personal information; the need for sitters; and selecting the right technology tools to maximize productivity. The session will outline several viable telehealth models commonly used by home-based telepractitioners to comply with legal and ethical mandates, document their evidence-base, and get paid. Telecommuting tips and strategies will also be outlined.

• Intelligently discuss the broad pros and cons of working from your home.
• Identify three specific ethical issues that are of relevance when working from your home.
• List at least one legal issue that may be of relevance when working from home.

Marlene M. Maheu, PhD