Credentials serve as verification that a professional has achieved a baseline level of competency in his or her subject matter. Possessing a credential not only helps one to prove competency and capability but also demonstrates to the professional community and employers that the individual is competent, properly trained and equipped to carry out his or her duties. With credentialed staff members in telehealth, employers can be more reasonably assured of having a workforce of practitioners that are capable of handling the complex telehealth challenges. The BCTP™ Credentialing Program is designed to assure baseline competencies and to differentiate fully credentialed professionals in the marketplace from those who 1) have little or no training, or 2) training that is not based on peer-reviewed, internationally-recognized and respected competencies from leaders in the industry. With the trademarked BCTP™, TBHI offers a rigorous standard for professional training related to telehealth. Only approved applicants are allowed to use the BCTP™ designation and be listed in TBHI’s database of BCTP™-credentialed professionals.

TBHI’s BCTP™ offers the healthcare provider community an interprofessional, international credentialing system for telebehavioral health. Based on rigorous criteria developed by the Coalition for Technology in Behavioral Health (CTiBS) Competency Task Force, the BCTP™ credential offers a designation that is credible, comprehensive, and portable. It provides a uniform credentialing process across behavioral disciplines and thereby helps to minimize the confusion that can occur when multiple processes and designations are used across professions and programs. It serves as a standard of telebehavioral health competency and professionalism for providers and patients alike.

Not only did TBHI offer the first digital training platform for telehealth worldwide, but here are 12 reasons why TBHI may interest you more than the new kids on the block:

1. Certificate vs Certification? Many privately-held training facilities offer “Certifications” when they should not. According to commonly accepted standards, large federal groups such as the US government federal behavioral health care arm known as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), or the National Insitute of Drug and Alcohol (NIDA) are able to offer certifications. Private groups such as TBHI and its competitors can responsibly offer certificates, but not certifications. Groups who don’t know the difference, or who exploit the lack of knowledge of these issues among practitioners have, in our opinion, no business offering a designation of any kind. TBHI offers a “Certificate” as it is supposed to. It has offered a Certificate for more than a decade. TBHI not only teaches proper terms and their uses at TBHI, but we walk our talk, and only offer what we can offer responsibly and respectfully. (We encourage you to consider that if a training group improperly uses the fundamental term to describe their own offerings, how else might they be misinforming you? BTW, TBHI is working toward offering a full certification, but such a process can easily require 3-5 years.
2. Founder’s Breadth of Knowledge. TBHI’s founders are three licensed industry leaders who offer you a far-reaching breadth of information: Marlene M. Maheu, PhD, Myron Pulier MD, and Joseph McMenamin MD, JD. Together, they represent the experience and breadth of knowledge that can only come from decades of interprofessional collaboration. They have successfully not only worked independently for decades but developed a shared perspective over two decades that is inclusive of psychology, counseling, marriage and family therapy, addictions, psychiatry, and medical law. Combined, they represent 3/4 of a century of experience dealing with interprofessional telehealth issues.
3. Faculty. In addition to its Founders, TBHI faculty continues to grow, spanning over a dozen professions with several dozen specialty topic areas. Able to engender the respect needed to attract other industry leaders, TBHI is the only telehealth training center that has a faculty that includes elected Senators, Presidents or CEOs of National Professional Associations, leading telehealth lawyers, practitioners and researchers. What you’ll undoubtedly notice is that  TBHI brings you a host of industry leaders who speak in one voice regarding adherence to legal and ethical requirements. Their messages are delivered in discussion with one of TBHI’s core faculty, to help you avoid the many confusing, contradictory and too often, diametrically opposed responses available today. To the best of its ability, TBHI then offers you a single, clear message about legal and ethical approaches to your telepractice, backs that up with a plethora of research and resources, and in TBHI’s more advanced programs, invites you to share your thoughts with TBHI Faculty in return.
4. Training Experience. Dr. Maheu alone has trained more than 26,000 professionals in telemental health / telebehavioral health, both online and in-person. Her ability to answer questions / point you to available resources is unmatched. (Training is not just about organizing materials to be studied. It is about making discussions engaging, anticipating questions and offering a range of resources to help you get where you want to go.)
5. Publications. TBHI’s faculty doesn’t just read journal articles to write a long term paper for you to read as a PDF. TBHI faculty has conducted some of the foundational TBHI research in the evidence-base and continues to do so every year. TBHI Founders’ publication and speaking histories say it all. Just for one, Dr. Maheu’s publication spans three decades. Often the lead on a research team, you will find her to be the first author on many of her peer-reviewed books, book chapters, and journal articles. (As you review that list, consider the hours of research and information-rich collegial discussion that goes into each one of these publications. Now think of her competitors. Who are their collaborators? Who else has demonstrated such leadership and scholarship?)
6. TBHI Organizational Structure. TBHI teaches compliance. TBHI itself then is compliant with state and federal laws regarding corporate structure and tax filings. TBHI is organized as an LLC in California, despite the many tax burdens placed on small businesses by CA. In other words, TBHI walks it’s talk about compliance.
7. Liability Insurance. TBHI carries liability insurance from Llyods of London. By choosing to protect itself, your program as well as your course records with the best of the best liability protections available for digital liabilities, you can trust that TBHI will be standing for a long time. You can count on TBHI to be here if your licensing board or a civil court wants to examine your records.
8. CMEs and CEs. Professionals today are expected to be interprofessional. TBHI has passed muster with medical continuing medical education as well as continuing education for physicians, osteopathic physicians, physician’s assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists and addictions specialists. TBHI has led the march to be approved by all these professional groups – and has successfully maintained its formal approval by all such groups. TBHI’s CME and CE programs are unaffiliated with any groups who may exert competing agendas.
9. CMS Software. TBHI courses are set up using state-of-the-art software to make it easy. Multi-media learning experiences keep you interested and engaged. A basic understanding of your computer and how to navigate the internet is all you need. (Many TBHI competitors will simply send you a dry PDF to read. PDFs are available at TBHI as well, but there’s a lot more available if you want to really learn, too.) Your course completion certificates are digitally generated with a unique identifier code by TBHI’s software, which cannot be altered. Upon subpoena then, TBHI can retrieve any of your records without a problem. TBHI also houses its Digital Learning Center on a dedicated server, which means that it does not share digital space with any other company. Again, your discussions and records are much safer within TBHI firewalls.
10. International and Inclusive. TBHI is an international, interprofessional organization that has trained professionals with a variety of settings, orientations, abilities, and designations. For instance, some of our Learners have been deaf or hard-of-hearing. Some are well into their 90’s. Some use adaptive devices because of limited vision. Many speak English as a second language. Given that TBHI serves Learners from 79 countries, its is developed with international awarenesses and sensitivities. While United State’s law is used as a basis to explain core issues, TBHI’s international community appreciates that many examples are inclusive of other countries. For example, TBHI’s Canadian colleagues recognize and comment on the fact that TBHI training often describes Canadian laws such as PIPEDA when discussing privacy.
11. Monthly Group Consultation. Rather than simply forwarding dry PDF files for you to read, TBHI faculty is available to address your specific questions about any aspect of telehealth – every month. With Level II, All Access Pass or MicroCertification training, you can join a small group by telephone or video on a monthly group teleconsult to rub digital shoulders with like-minded colleagues. Bring all your questions to have TBHI faculty quickly and easily unlock answers to questions that may take you weeks to research on your own.
12. Customer Service. Last but not least, TBHI offers top-notch customer service. TBHI support staff is available by email, telephone and video to help you if you need assistance with any aspect of TBHI’s Digital Training or billing during business hours between 9 am – 4 pm, Pacific Time (12 pm – 7 pm Eastern time): contact@telehealth.org

To see a variety of thoughts voluntarily shared by TBHI grads, please see this page.

TBHI welcomes the opportunity to tell you about the years of diligent, behind-the-scenes work undertaken to make your learning and consulting experiences safer, easier and more productive.

TBHI’s BCTP™  is not only recognized by the national and international telehealth communities as being world-class, it also gives you FREE access TBHI’s Digital Marketing Professional Training in legal and ethical risk management techniques, along with 6 CMEs or CEs, if they are approved by your board. TBHI stands behind its promise to help you not maximize your learning, but also maximize what you can do with that learning.  With this additional training, you can easily and comfortably learn how to develop and market your services online – in your state, your country and if you wish, internationally.

The Option is Yours

Take the course yourself or assign it to your assistant, either way, you can easily learn how to position your services without the time-investment of traveling or paying for expensive Internet marketing courses that will leave you worried about legal and ethical liability. Benefit from TBHI’s investment of more than $30,000 in marketing training, TBHI’s experience at legal and ethical Internet-related professionalism, and the direct counsel of an interprofessional group of social media consultants. Let your new TBHI credential help open new doors by clearly, effectively, legally and ethically announcing your BCTP™ competence to the world.