The mission of Pacific Child and Family Associates is to provide high quality care in a standardized manner to all our families; to do so we address such potential obstacles including language, cultural and geographical challenges. In regard to geography, the services we provide require highly trained and specialized professional staff. Unfortunately, qualified staff are simply not available in the family’s geographical area. The problem is magnified when high intensity services, such as ABA services for autism and related conditions, are delivered in the home environment. For example, in the state of Wyoming (see the Behavior Analyst Certification registry) there is only one (1) Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Wyoming is the ninth largest state in the United States in total area, encompassing 97,818 square miles (253,350 km²) and is made up of 23 counties. The question is “How can you deliver state of the science treatment in a rural environment where providers do not exist?”
Like many challenges in recent years the solution (or at least part of the solution) may lie in technology. Advances in technology have tremendously expanded our capacity the deliver the same high quality services to children and families no matter where they live. Technology makes it possible to bring highly trained professionals to families without diminishing the level of care.
PCFA understands that the tremendous opportunity that telemedicine represents for bring high quality services and consultation to areas where appropriate providers do not exist. It can increase the clinical and cost effectiveness of treatment services. While this concept has great promise it is also essential that the tool be use appropriately to insure the clinical appropriateness of its use as well as insuring that it meets all necessary privacy standards. PCFA has chosen to model our telemedicine technologies and processes on the medical field to insure we meet the highest possible standards for safety and privacy.
- All services will be delivered from a secure platform that meets the Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act (HIPAA) and Personal Privacy Information Act (PIPA).
- All staff providing telemedicine are certified as a Telemedicine Provider by an accredited university, University of California-Davis. PCFA clinical leadership has attained advanced certification as will oversee the clinical staff delivering telemedicine consultations. This pyramidal structure insures that accredited staff provides oversight to other accredited staff delivering services.
Our approach merges high intensity home-based services with sophisticated video technology that allow us to provide education, consultation and supervision of the services being delivered in the home. In some cases, we will be installing appropriate equipment in the home (with your permission) that will allow us to remotely monitor and supervise the treatment being delivered in your home. In order to assure the highest quality of services for your child, we require that a supervisor make in-person visits at regularly scheduled intervals. This model is not intended to eliminate face-to-face services, it is intended to allow for these services to be supervised and monitored just as we would with any case we are involved with. Using this model we currently serve families successfully across multiple time zones.
Like any aspect of treatment, remote services may not be appropriate for all situations. We will consider this tool and option during our initial and on-going assessment and the treatment plan will be developed accordingly. Please be advised that this service model is not covered by some health carriers but our intake and treatment team will be able to confirm the availability of this service option for your specific situation.
For more information regarding our remote services, please email info@pacificchild.com or call us toll free at (855) 295-3276. We are currently able to provide services in English, Spanish, French, German, Korean, Vietnamese and Armenian.