News

ISfTeH endorses Telehealth Certification Institute training programs

The ISfTeH is pleased to announce the endorsement of the following two courses, provided by the Telehealth Certification Institute:

• TeleMental Health Training Certificate Program (THTC)
• TeleStroke Facilitator Certificate Training Program

The ISfTeH supports quality educational and training programs by reviewing and endorsing the programs' content and faculty. Proper education and training are essential to assure good knowledge and expertise in telemedicine/telehealth and digital health topics and to assure quality medical and health service provision.

The TeleMental Health Training Certificate Program (THTC) provides evidence-based, advanced, and comprehensive training that prepares clinicians to offer behavioral health services while in a different location than the client through the use of technology. There are several other terms used for TeleMental Health such as E-Psychology, Technology-Assisted Social Work, Web-Based, Virtual, Distance Counseling, Telebehavioral Health, Telehealth, TeleMedicine, Online Counseling, Skype Counseling, and Tele-Therapy. The THTC program is for any behavioral health professional, including but not limited to, counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, physicians, nurses, and chaplains. Clinicians who have earned the THTC take special consideration of their clients' privacy as it relates to the use of technology, and the needed effort to ensure that they remain up-to-date on the best practices of providing services remotely. The course includes an introduction to telemental health, legal, ethical and clinical aspects, screening and emergency management planning, clinical skills of video sessions and phone therapy, and cultural competence and telehealth. Also included with this program is the THTC Review and Study Guide, a comprehensive 16 chapter/200 page ebook that covers all aspects of the program. This program consists of 15.5 hours of video content. Participants access and complete this training at their own pace. Dates may be scheduled upon request for Live Webinar or Live In Person sessions.

The TeleStroke Facilitator Certificate Training Program is a one-hour certification course which provides a lecture and clinical demonstration of the skills needed to confidently and correctly assist a vascular neurologist with a telestroke consultation with a patient. The learning objectives for TeleStroke Facilitator Certificate Training Program are to formulate an accurate algorithm for the diagnosis of a patient with cerebral ischemic stroke, accurately identify symptoms that could correlate with ischemic stroke, and utilize appropriate patient maneuvering techniques to enhance a telestroke encounter, and apply the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale so that patients are treated efficiently and correctly in an effort to minimize morbidity and mortality.

These courses are offered by ISfTeH member, the Telehealth Certification Institute (TCI), who deliver comprehensive telehealth training and consultation services to a global network of healthcare organizations and professionals. TCI provides healthcare organizations and clinicians with the ethical, legal, technological, and clinical framework for conducting telehealth sessions effectively. Through TCI’s online CE marketplace of over 180 courses (including the popular TeleMental Health Training Certificate program), over 40,000 providers have been trained on essential telehealth competencies.

For more information about these courses, click the above links, or contact info@isfteh.org and we will connect you with the Telehealth Certification Institute. For additional information about the ISfTeH Education Program and the endorsement of courses and training programs, also contact us at info@isfteh.org.