Heartland Health — Telehealth Policy

Telehealth means providing psychological services when the psychologist and client are not in the same physical location, usually by video consultation.

Telehealth may be used for psychological therapy, EMDR, clinical interviews and reviews, parent or carer consultations, assessment feedback, treatment or support planning, and some adult psychological assessment activities where appropriate.

Telephone may sometimes be used where clinically appropriate or as a backup if video is unavailable. Video will generally be preferred where visual information is important to the service.

Telehealth suitability is considered individually and may take into account the nature of the service, age and developmental stage, client preferences, ability to engage remotely, privacy, safety, accessibility needs, technology reliability, and whether in-person observation or standardised assessment is required.

Suitability may change over time.

Where telehealth is not considered appropriate, Heartland Health may recommend an in-person appointment, a combination of in-person and telehealth services, or another suitable service. Clients may also request in-person appointments, subject to availability and clinical suitability.

Adult psychological therapy may be provided in person, by telehealth, or through a combination of both.

EMDR may also be provided by telehealth where clinically appropriate. The format may be changed if telehealth is no longer considered the safest or most useful way to continue the work.

Many components of an adult psychological assessment may be suitable for telehealth, including interviews, history-taking, questionnaires, collateral interviews and feedback. Some standardised assessment tasks require in-person administration. At Heartland Health, certain cognitive and academic assessment tasks, including the WAIS and WIAT where used, are completed in person.

Psychological assessment of children and adolescents is conducted in person at Heartland Health.

Therapy with children and adolescents may be considered by telehealth where clinically appropriate, although in-person therapy is generally preferred for younger children.

Clients should, where reasonably possible, participate from a location that is:

• physically safe

• reasonably private

• quiet enough for meaningful conversation

• suitable for discussing personal information.

Headphones may assist with privacy.

Clients should not participate while driving, operating machinery or undertaking another activity that prevents safe and meaningful participation. If privacy or safety is inadequate, the appointment may need to be modified, moved or rescheduled.

Heartland Health may ask you to confirm your current physical location at the beginning of a telehealth appointment, particularly where this is relevant to safety.

You may also be asked to confirm a current telephone number, whether another person is present, and emergency-contact information where clinically appropriate.

This information may be important if urgent assistance becomes necessary.

Heartland Health takes reasonable steps to protect privacy during telehealth. Privacy also depends on the client's location, device and internet connection.

Clients are encouraged to use a private location where possible, secure their device, use headphones where helpful, and let the psychologist know if another person is present or can overhear the appointment.

Further information about how personal and health information is collected, used, stored and disclosed is provided in the Heartland Health Privacy Policy.

Telehealth depends on functioning technology and a reasonably reliable internet connection.

If a connection fails, Heartland Health may attempt to reconnect, contact the client by telephone, use another agreed communication method where clinically appropriate, or reschedule the remainder of the appointment.

What happens will depend on the circumstances, including how much of the appointment has already occurred and whether continuing by another method is clinically appropriate.

Heartland Health is not an emergency, crisis or after-hours service.

Email, voicemail, booking systems, client portals and website enquiries are not continuously monitored and should not be relied upon for urgent assistance.

If you or another person is in immediate danger, call 000 or attend the nearest emergency department.

If significant safety concerns arise during a telehealth appointment, the psychologist may need to clarify your location, available supports, emergency-contact information, or whether another health or emergency service needs to be involved.

Usual limits to confidentiality continue to apply during telehealth.

Heartland Health may provide telehealth to clients across Australia where clinically appropriate.

Clients should tell Heartland Health if they are attending from a different state or territory than usual where this may affect emergency planning, referral options, local services or another aspect of safe care.

Clients should discuss any proposed telehealth appointment while overseas with Heartland Health beforehand.

Telehealth cannot be guaranteed while a client is overseas because additional legal, professional, insurance, privacy, funding and emergency-response considerations may apply.

Telehealth is provided with informed consent.

Clients can ask questions, raise concerns, decline telehealth, request an in-person appointment, or ask to reconsider the format later.

Telehealth may be suitable at one stage of care and less suitable at another. Heartland Health may recommend changing the format where concerns arise relating to engagement, privacy, safety, technology, assessment validity, the type of therapeutic work or changing clinical needs.

Where Heartland Health cannot safely or appropriately provide a particular service by telehealth, this will be discussed and reasonable alternatives considered where available.

Related documents

This policy should be read together with relevant Heartland Health documents, including:

• Informed Consent for Psychological Services

• Privacy Policy

• Fees & Funding information

• Psychological Assessment Information & Agreement, where applicable

• Child and Adolescent Consent information, where applicable

• Authority to Release/Share Information, where applicable.

Questions about telehealth

Heartland Health Email: admin@heartlandhealth.com.au