Guidance

• State Licensure Board COVID-19 Updates:
• The Ohio Counselor Social Worker and Marriage & Family Therapy (CSWMFT) Board has released Updated Teletherapy Guidance.  This will support efforts by the DeWine administration, ODM, and MHAS to rapidly expand use of telehealth and telephone (audio only) services in response to this pandemic. 
• The State Medical Board took steps to relax regulations requiring first in-person visits and posted a Telemedicine Guidance Update on 3/18/2020.  This incorporates the DEAs guidance to allow prescribing of controlled substances during the pandemic via telemedicine without first seeing the patient in-person when specific conditions are met.  The State Medical Board has also created a COVID-19 webpage that includes additional updates on physician licensing, which has been relaxed for out-of-state practitioners, continuing education, and elective procedures, PPE, and testing. 
• The State Pharmacy Board has posted a number of accommodations and waivers on their website under "Recent Updates" to relax regulatory barriers in response to the pandemic. These include:  COVID-19 Response Efforts - March 18, 2020; COVID-19 Response Efforts; Temporary Expansion of the Maximum Days Supply for Multiple Drugs in Single-Dose Containers; Nurses Personally Furnishing Non-Controlled Drug Samples; Delivery by Opioid Treatment Programs; Personally Furnishing Buprenorphine Products by Opioid Treatment Programs; COVID-19 Response Efforts - March 17, 2020
• The Ohio Board of Nursing has issued a statement on their website announcing relaxed licensure requirements to support nursing mobility.   
• The Ohio Board of Psychology has issued updated statements on their website regarding the use of telepsychology during the Coronavirus emergency.

• Accrediting Body Guidance on COVID 19
  • CARF:  Message from the CEO:  The safety and well-being of persons served, staff of accredited programs and services, and CARF surveyors are our priority. CARF has postponed all surveys with start dates of March 16 through April 30, 2020, to help with community transmission mitigation efforts. We continue to schedule for future on-site surveys, but recognize that such events are highly dependent on air travel; surveyor availability; and the course of COVID-19 and its impact on communities, health and human service organizations, and the persons served.  We encourage everyone to continue everyday preventive actions and to follow ongoing recommendations from state and local health authorities on social distancing and sheltering in place, when and where possible, to prevent exposure to and spread of the virus.    
  • COA continues to monitor this challenging and constantly developing situation with COVID-19 and has focused the utmost attention on protocols needed to keep our entire COA community safe and healthy.  COA has been following the guidance, recommendations, and mandates of federal, state, and local governmental and public health entities to ensure that we are taking the best course of action possible.  We have compiled some key informational resources and best practices for navigating the current landscape that we will continue to update. Based on the guidance received, COA will be suspending all volunteer travel and cancelling all Site Visits that were scheduled to begin the week of March 23, 2020.  These restrictions will remain in place through the end of April and we will revisit and update them on an ongoing basis as more information becomes available.  
  • The Joint Commission recognizes the incredible challenge that health care organizations and front-line workers are facing with the COVID-19 crisis.  The situation is changing rapidly, and recommendations have been changing with similar speed. We also understand that health care personnel are wading through a deluge of information. Therefore, we have created a resource page for health care professionals and organizations that provides only the information that best meets the needs of health care workers and leaders.