In March 2018, ClearHealth Quality Institute (CHQI), in partnership with the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), launched the new Telemedicine Accreditation Program Standards and Guide, v 2.0.
The new Telemedicine Accreditation Program (TAP) combines ATA's 25 years of experience with CHQI's accreditation leadership. The TAP Standards focus on several key program performance areas.
- The Core Standards cover effective governance/oversight requirements, professional oversight and qualifications, patient safety and satisfaction, clinical workflows, technology reliability and availability, regulatory compliance, and risk management.
- The three Modular Standards each cover a telemedicine delivery model: Consumer-to-Provider (C2P), Provider-to-Consumer (P2C), and Provider-to-Provider (P2P). These sections cover in more detail the key delivery issues associated with each type of telemedicine encounter, including measurable service quality outcomes.
The CHQI Telemedicine Standards Committee identified numerous telemedicine use cases to ensure the development of inclusive standards reflecting the delivery models and clinical service lines of telemedicine providers. As with many other accreditation programs that have been launched in health care over the years, the new CHQI Telemedicine Standards will likely be used to establish national benchmarks, which will help shape the practice of telemedicine/telehealth going forward.
CHQI will reactivate the Standards Committee in June and is looking for volunteers to participate. One of the committee's first likely projects will be the development of several user case models under telemedicine, such as behavioral health. For more information on serving as a committee member, contact CHQI at info@chqi.org.
In addition, CHQI is offering several webinars and workshops over the coming months which will provide more information for telemedicine providers curious about the accreditation process and its value.