Tag Archives: Chat Rooms
Email, Chat Rooms or Skype for Mental Health: What about Mandated Reporting?
Licensed professionals are obligated to follow an accepted “standard of care” that included procedures to use for mandated reporting. First, that standard of care has not yet been expanded to include email, chat room or videoconferencing via public, unsecured VOIP-based platforms. Which companies use VoIP-based platforms for online video conferencing? Skype, Google Talk and Oovoo.
Full StoryEmail or Chat Room and Skype-based Counseling and Psychotherapy: The Professional Standard of Care
Our legal standard of care has not yet been expanded to include email, chat room or exclusive Skype-based counseling or psychotherapy. Until it is, practitioners using these telecommunication tools could find it difficult to defend themselves if something goes wrong.
Full StoryHIPAA & Hijacked SKYPE Passwords: Another Security Violation that Brings Viability of Online Counseling via SKYPE into Yet More Questioning
Recent report of SKYPE security breach involving password hijacking. As a result, viability of SKYPE for telehealth service delivery is even more questionable if such security breaches cannot be stopped.
Full StoryLegitimate Online Counselors Are Coming, but Meanwhile, Consumer Beware – Part I
Telehealth and telemedicine protocols typically involve the presence of a licensed practitioner either in the room with the patient or very nearby, such as in the adjoining room. They also involve community backup systems to be set up for the patient, and if practitioner be aware of those systems in the case of emergency. Consent forms in these cases include the names of family members, community leaders or trusted religious leaders who can be called upon if the professional is uncomfortable with anything that has transpired during remote contact with the patient. Telehealth and telemedicine consent forms ask patients to accept much lower risks than what might exist with public acess, proprietary Internet-based technologies such as Skype, chat rooms, or email.
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