Chestnut Ridge Beats April 1 Telehealth Compliance Deadline with VSee-Credible Integration for Consent Documentation

Updated 2/28/2023

Video courtesy of CRCSI

The Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) announced that the two-year COVID-19 holiday is over for telehealth providers. The flexibilities allowed by the Act 30 of 2022 will be terminated on October 31, 2022 April 1, 2023

Reinstated telehealth documentation regulations are as follows:   

  • The first key requirement is for the telehealth consent to be documented in the EHR. This means that verbal consent to treat, previously allowed, will no longer be an acceptable practice, and a permanent record of the consent must be stored for audit.  
  • The second key requirement is that the medical record must store the timestamp, duration, and proof of all telehealth visits.

We expect other states will follow Pennsylvania in implementing similar pre-pandemic telehealth policies.  Health providers should be careful of these compliance deadlines to avoid any legal penalties.

Even the Best Behavioral Health EHRs May Not Be Compliant for Telehealth Documentation

Credible EHR by Qualifacts is the leading behavioral health EHRs. It’s popular due to its flexibility and user-friendly interface. It was also recognized with the 2022 Best in KLAS Award for Software and Services. Credible offers several options for integrating telehealth, including Zoom, Mend, and its own native telehealth product. Unfortunately, each of these platforms are currently missing capabilities to automate the new documentation requirements to meet the Pennsylvania OMHSAS rules. For example, its Zoom integration does not offer the ability to automatically collect client identifiers and consent data that are now required.

VSee’s Credible eSign Solution for Chestnut Ridge Counseling 

VSee, in partnership with Chestnut Ridge Counseling Services (CRCSI) has successfully developed an integrated telehealth consent signature interface for CRCSI and other Credible partners. This VSee integration with Credible is fully compliant with Pennsylvania telehealth regulations

Not only does VSee allow CRCSI to meet the compliance requirements, it also allows them to streamline their copayment and signature/consent collection with an integrated e-signature telehealth consent interface. This functionality eliminates the need for third-party apps and minimizes the risk of losing electronic signature during a live telehealth session.

In addition to the e-signature functionality, VSee platform provides tagging with auto-alert features for efficient queue management and call routing so CRSCI can easily balance workloads.  Their providers and patients have been very happy with the improved workflow. 

CRCSI IT Director, George Dukic commented, “I don’t see many of the EHRs out there being able to build a full-fledged [telehealth] product,” He added, “We’re very please with VSee’s superior telehealth features; it has everything we need to provide a seamless and compliant telehealth system.”

What Makes VSee Different?

VSee’s focus on user experience has allowed us to build a comprehensive low code, no code platform that can easily scale. It offers configurable building blocks to quickly fit any specific workflow or state requirement.

To learn more about VSee’s integration with Credible and other EHR platforms:

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