New Telehealth Certificate Track Focuses on Behavioral Health Services

The American Board of Telehealth has launched a telebehavioral health certificate program, aimed at qualifying and providing resources for healthcare providers using connected health to address the nation’s growing mental health crisis.

“The COVID-19 pandemic set off a new wave of mental health and substance abuse issues across the country,” Whitney Flanagan, RN, Director of Education for the South Dakota-based organization, said in a press release. “With anxiety and depression on the rise, telebehavioral health is one way to increase services, especially in rural or underserved areas. Our goal is to deliver the training and education necessary to ensure a variety of providers in different settings are up to date on emerging tools and approaches to ensure the best quality care possible for patients.”

ABT was launched out of Avera Health in August 2020, and targeted a growing need for education and standards for telehealth programs. Its first offering, unveiled later that year, is the seven-module CORE (Clinical, Operational, Regulatory and Ethics) Concepts in Telehealth Certificate Program.

The telemental health curriculum would also consist of seven modules, offering evidence and best practices for delivering healthcare through various platforms and to various populations. It’s designed for a wide range of providers - including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, therapists and prevention specialists - and settings, including prevention programs, inpatient treatment programs, primary care health delivery systems, emergency rooms, criminal justice systems and schools.

“Telehealth is a powerful medium, but providers need new skills and knowledge to ensure it reaches its full potential,” Matthew Stanley, MD, a founding board member of the ABT and clinical vice president of Avera eCARE’s behavioral health service line, said in the press release. “This innovative certificate program delivers next level training, specifically for mental health practitioners, that will enable them to engage with patients on a deeper level to improve outcomes. And it couldn't come at a more critical time given the rise in mental health issues during the pandemic.”

Various studies have placed the number of people experiencing mental health issues during the pandemic at between 19 percent and 25 percent of the population, while access to in-person care has been restricted. And while telehealth in general has soared during the past year, telemental health in particular has seen some of the highest rates of adoption.

“The pandemic also revealed where we are as a society, that is, the prevalence of health disparities that begins with access to quality care,” Stanley recently wrote in a blog on the ABT site. “I’ve seen a higher incidence of people with suicidal thoughts, anxiety and mental health challenges in rural communities. As pressures continue to rise, alcohol and substance abuse may also increase and potentially result in violent behaviors.”

“For patients in any part of the country, but especially in rural communities, telemedicine gives clinicians access to people when they need us,” he added. “We are more available to patients at the time of the crisis, often with a telehealth appointment via a phone call or video connection.”