Integrating Mental Health with Physical Health
Health information exchange is key to providing coordinated care. KHIE is the single, trusted source for bringing physical health and behavioral health together.
Behavioral Health is a term used to describe how a person's behaviors impact his or her mental and physical health. While the terms behavioral health and mental health are often used interchangeably, they do not have the same meaning. Mental health refers to a person's state of mind while behavioral health involves a person's state of mind and his or her physical health conditon.
Sharing patient records in KHIE is critical to providing complete patient care and serves as a channel for communication with other healthcare professionals. Improved communication between behavioral health and physical health providers is pivotal to improving holistic patient outcomes.
KHIE is integrating with behavioral health centers to provide access to pertinent health information at the point of care, where it is needed most.
Mental Health Records
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule provides consumers with important privacy rights and protections regarding their health information. Records related to mental health are considered part of a patient's general medical record. The Privacy Rule applies consistently to all PHI, without regard to the type of information. The Privacy Rule recognizes that situations arise where health information may need to be shared to ensure the patient receives the best treatment and for other important purposes, such as for the health and safety of the patient or others. The Privacy Rule is carefully balanced with appropriate protections to allow uses and disclosures of information, including mental health information, for purposes of treatment, payment, and healthcare operations.
What's included in a Mental Health Record?
Mental health records include medical prescriptions, session start and stop times, frequency of treatment, clinical tests, summaries of diagnosis, symptoms, and prognosis. According to HIPAA, this type of information is considered part of a patient's general medical record; thus, it can be shared in KHIE without patient consent.
KHIE does not accept Psychotherapy Notes
Psychotherapy notes are treated differently from other mental health information because they are the personal notes of the therapist. These notes are not required or useful for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations purposes other than by the mental health professional who created the notes.
INFLUENCING THE WAY HEALTHCARE IS PLANNED, COORDINATED, AND DELIVERED.