Washington State recently passed Senate Bill 6061 in response to the sudden shift to telehealth delivery of services. It is mandated that Health Care Professionals in our state attain training that allows us to proficient use telemedicine technology. Beginning January 1, 2021 and no later than June 30, 2021, all health care professionals who provide clinical services through telemedicine, other than physicians and osteopathic physicians, must complete either a telemedicine training made available by the telemedicine collaborative; or an alternative telemedicine training, which may include training offered by hospitals and other health care facilities, continuing education courses, or trainings developed by a health professional board or commission.
Health care professionals must sign and retain an attestation that they completed either the telemedicine collaborative or alternative telemedicine training.
RCW 43.70.495
Detailed interpretation of the law
The parameters needed for alternative training equivalents
To learn more about the different training options available and access additional resources, please visit the Washington State Telehealth Collaborative Training webpage. To participate in any of these free trainings you will need to enroll and create a Canvas account by accessing the Washington State Medical Professional Telemedicine Training. The law refers to the definition of telemedicine as “the delivery of health care services through the use of interactive audio and video technology, permitting real-time communication between the patient at the originating site and the provider, for the purpose of diagnosis, consultation, or treatment. “Telemedicine” does not include the use of audio-only telephone, facsimile, or email.” In addition, the Washington state Department of Health State Office of Rural Health is pleased to announce a new telehealth education series made possible by a collaboration between Northwest Telehealth, the Department of Health, and the Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center. This free series is designed to help clinical teams and healthcare organizations work through the decisions involved in setting up a well-run telemedicine service that serves patients directly. Please see the attached flyer for more information on the dates and topics. A registration link is included on the flyer.