New Telehealth Certificate Program Takes Aim at Primary Care Providers

The American Board of Telehealth has launched a new certificate program aimed at helping primary care providers deliver virtual care.

The South Dakota-based organization has unveiled a Teleprimary Care Certificate program, its third program and the second to launch in 2021 to address the growing demand for connected health best practices in the wake of the pandemic.

“Teleprimary care is at the forefront of the telemedicine space, but it continues to evolve and expand with the development of new technologies, innovative care models and evolving reimbursement policies,” Whitney Flanagan, RN, the group’s director of education, said in a press release. “Telehealth training – whether it’s on the platform, regulations or webside manners – will be critical to long term success. Primary care teams need specialized skills to meet the growing demand for telemedicine services, and ensure the highest quality care possible for patients.”

The self-paced online program will address topics that include reimbursement issues; legal, regulatory and ethical considerations; operations and workflow planning; best practices for combining telehealth and in-person care in a hybrid model; addressing health equity and the social determinants of health; and competing with retail clinics, urgent care centers and other virtual sources of care.

The organization launched in August 2020 out of Avera Health. Its first offering, unveiled later that year, is the seven-module CORE (Clinical, Operational, Regulatory and Ethics) Concepts in Telehealth Certificate Program.

This past April, the board unveiled a Telebehavioral Health Certificate program, aimed at addressing the rising rates of mental health and substance abuse issues across the country caused in part by the COVID-19 crisis.