Electronic Communications
We will decide together which kind of telepsychology service to use. I am using Doxy.me for healthcare professionals for the majority of my telepsychology sessions. The waiting room link for this service is: https://doxy.me/donaldfwalkerphd. As of 4/14/20, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of insurance companies have authorized the use of cell phone communication for telepsychology sessions. You will need to have a computer or cell phone system to use telepsychology services. You are solely responsible for any cost to you to obtain any necessary equipment, accessories, or software to take part in telepsychology.
For communication between sessions during normal periods of operation, I openly discourage the use of email or text messaging. This is because I cannot guarantee that information communicated by email or text is confidential. Therefore, I will not typically discuss any clinical information by email or text and typically prefer that you do not either. For routine matters such as scheduling, during normal times of operation, I prefer that you call and leave a voicemail message rather than email or text me.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office for Civil Rights at the US Department of Heath and Human Services has stated that “Covered health care providers will not be subject to penalties for violations of the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules that occur in the good faith provision of telehealth during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency. This Notification does not affect the application of the HIPAA Rules to other areas of health care outside of telehealth during the emergency”. The Office for Civil Rights at the US Department of Heath and Human Services has also stated that “Telehealth services may be provided, for example, through audio, text messaging, or video communication technology, including videoconferencing software”. Thus, in the event of an emergency or to manage a situation involving imminent risk or the potential imminent risk to yourself or other people, I may communicate with you via text in good faith to preserve your safety or the safety of others. We may, if mutually agreed upon, engage in limited text messaging to manage such a situation over a brief, defined period of time. On my end, I will discuss this potential form of limited communication with you to manage a perceived crisis with you prior to texting you.