The American Heart Association just unveiled a new individual telehealth certification program for healthcare professionals. 

In a July 5 release, AHA announced the launch of Certified Professional by the American Heart Association - Telehealth, supported by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.  

The new offering is geared toward licensed healthcare professionals who complete prerequisite telehealth education. It is intended to standardize training in telehealth delivery, refine care skills and improve patient outcomes. 

The certification comes three years after the start of the COVID Public Health Emergency, when utilization of telehealth skyrocketed due to pandemic-related restrictions. Although telehealth visits presented a promising solution to the dwindling availability of in-person physician visits during “stop the spread” mitigation measures, it did not come without some growing pains. Many providers who did not offer telehealth services prior to the pandemic felt ill equipped to do so on short notice during lockdowns. And at the time, policies and regulations related to telehealth flexibilities were unclear and there were very few standardized practices in place. Thus, there is a need for standard training relative to virtual care for healthcare professionals, AHA noted. 

“The explosion of telehealth use demonstrates a need for telehealth-centric learning to improve the standard of care,” Andrew Watson, MD, volunteer chair of the American Heart Association’s Telehealth Certification Development Workgroup, American Heart Association Center for Telehealth Expert Panel member and a practicing surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said in the release. “The American Heart Association’s individual telehealth certification is a way for healthcare professionals to ensure they are providing the highest standard of care in this evolving delivery system.”   

The certification is available through the association’s Intelligo Professional Education Hub. 

To learn more, click here.