Rochester RHIO Expands Access to Verbal Consent Procedure

Expansion includes additional clinicians.

Updated: April 6, 2020

On March 20, Rochester RHIO announced a change from the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) around RHIO consent for telemedicine. Written consent is being waived for telemedicine calls where a patient doesn’t have prior written consent on file for the health information exchange. Rochester RHIO has operationalized this access through its Break-the-Glass protocol. 

Usually only used for emergency situations, Rochester RHIO is now expanding authorized user access to its Break-the-Glass protocol to support and facilitate the telehealth directive from NYS DOH during the COVID-19 public health pandemic. More clinical users will now see “Break-the-Glass” as additional option while entering RHIO consent into Explore. 

Note: Rochester RHIO conducts an audit each time a user clicks “Break-the-Glass.” 

If you need to use this process, you must follow the directions in the verbal consent procedure below.

• Document: Rochester RHIO Verbal Consent Procedure for Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Full Letter: New York State Department of Health

Important: Verbal consent is NOT durable. This means that verbal consent must be obtained during each telehealth visit, if a patient has not previously provided written consent.

If you have any questions around verbal consent, the procedure itself, or if you don’t see the Break-the-Glass option while entering patient consent, contact RHIO Support at 1-877-865-7446 (RHIO), or email support@grrhio.org.