New Telehealth Accreditation Program Focuses on Home Health Care

Another accreditation service for healthcare providers has developed standards for telehealth, with a focus on the home healthcare market.

The Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) has launched a new Distinction in Telehealth designation for care providers who use connected health platforms for ambulatory care, behavioral health, home health, hospice, private duty and renal analysis.

The standards for the designation were created with help from Health Recovery Solutions (HRS), a New Jersey-based telehealth provider known for its partnerships with health systems and home health agencies.

“Telehealth is dramatically changing the way we view health care,” Matt Hughes, director of business development for the North Carolina-based commission, said in a press release. “ACHC and HRS share a commitment to promoting comprehensive advancements in telehealth throughout the industry. This will open new avenues for providers, giving them more opportunities to ensure continuity of care and minimize risk.”

“The walls of the hospital have been broken,” added Jarrett Bauer, HRS’ CEO. “Our home care partners have developed the best strategies in building remote patient monitoring telehealth programs, and we are excited for this opportunity to share their trusted best practices across the ACHC provider network.”

With this designation, the ACHC joins a growing number of organizations and academic health systems looking to establish standards for telehealth delivery.

At the top of that list is the Utilization Review of Accreditation Commission (URAC), which joined forces in January with the ClearHealth Quality Institute to create an accreditation platform for connected health programs and providers. In July, URAC added a track for assessing remote patient monitoring programs.

In August, South Dakota-based Avera Health unveiled the American Board of Telehealth (ABT), a “new national entity created to improve and ensure the quality of telehealth by developing high-quality, evidence-based education in the practice.” ABT has since launched its CORE (Clinical, Operational, regulatory and Ethics) Concepts in Telehealth Certificate Program, with guidelines developed by the Harvard Medical Physician Faculty Group.

The ACHC designation targets the often-overlooked potential for telehealth in the home healthcare market, which has seen growth during the coronavirus pandemic but remains challenged by access and reimbursement barriers, particularly through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.