Telehealth Training Requirement
The linked policy statement filed by the Department of Health with additional information related to this requirement. Beginning January 1, 2021, health care professionals (excluding physicians) who are offering telemedicine services to patients are required to complete telemedicine training.
To learn more about the different training options available and access additional resources, please visit the Washington State Telehealth Collaborative Training page. To complete the free and publicly available telemedicine training, please click enroll and create a Canvas account to access the Washington State Medical Professional Telemedicine Training.
Taken from the Washington State Telehealth Collaborative Training Page
Who is required to take the training?
Beginning January 1, 2021, all health care professionals offering telemedicine services must complete compliant telemedicine training, excluding physicians and osteopathic physicians. However, the Collaborative strongly recommends physicians complete training as well.
Due to the broad language of the bill, the Washington Nursing Commission recommends that any nurse involved in a telemedicine visit should also complete the training. For more guidance, please refer to your regulating body.
LeadingAge WA spoke with the Nursing Commission, they will be releasing FAQs soon regarding this requirement. Nurses will have a grace period to December 31, 2021 for to meet the requirement. Newly licensed nurses (newly licensed and those by endorsement) after January 1, 2021, will have 1 year from their initial licensure.
This only applies to nurses providing telemedicine-it does not require all nurses providing other telehealth services to take the training – although we are recommending any nurse who is providing any type of telehealth nursing services to take the training. If a nurse is helping a provider with a telehealth visit in a nursing home, assisted living, housing or home health, and it is done using videoconferencing in real time, this training is required. It can be through the UW Telehealth collaborative or it can be an alternative as stipulated in the law. Nurses do not need to send anything to the Nursing Commission or submit the attestation to the Commission.
Questions?
Contact:
Laura Hofmann, MSN, RN
Director of Clinical and Nursing Facility Regulatory Services
c: 360-691-9281