May 16, 2023

The Public Health emergency ended on 5/11/2023.  To this point, OMH has promulgated numerous guidance documents that are linked or attached for your convenience:

 March 11:  OMH Guidance doc:  https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/guidance/impact-end-of-federal-phe-on-omh-system.pdf

March 13:   Supplemental Guidance released March 13 is attached.

March 13:   Self-Attestation Revised March 13 is also attached.

April 13:   OMH Updated Telehealth Services Guidance is here:  https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/guidance/telehealth-guidance.pdf

May 1:   OMH Clarification of April 13 Guidance is attached. Note:   There is indeed another document coming – it is an updated clinic program guidance document.  According to OMH, there is no ETA at the moment. It is being finalized and then it will go through internal review.

In the meantime, we recently submitted the following question to OMH (in italics directly below):  

Question: 

In the newly released OMH telehealth guidance, OMH is now requiring that telehealth appropriateness be documented in the treatment plan. 

“Treatment plan/service plan/individual recovery plan reviews shall document appropriateness of Telehealth Services, including through a person-centered discussion on the use of telehealth as a service modality.“

Does OMH expect the provider to update all plans before 5/12 or 8/1? Or can we add this as plans come due for review in the future?

Answer from OMH (in italics below):  

Part 596 and Telehealth guidance both indicate the need to document the use of telehealth in each progress note, not the appropriateness. The expectation is to document appropriateness in the initial evaluation and update whether or not TH continues to be an appropriate service modality in service plans and updates. It can be a brief notation, even for non-clinics that may need to update treatment plans more frequently than annually. Providers may use the section “Considerations for the Use of Telehealth” to guide the determination.   **Note from Lauri:  This is a reference to page 4 of the document here linked here:  https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/guidance/telehealth-guidance.pdf

I hope this helps.  I can’t imagine how complicated this is for all of you.  Just know that we are ‘on it’  – in hot pursuit of answers to the questions you continue to raise.