Q: What is the Telehealth Institute for Child Maltreatment?
The Institute is a non-profit organization that provides confidential expert review of medical examination findings to medical professionals who perform sexual abuse evaluations for children and adolescents.
Q: Why should I participate in THICM?
Independent review of examination interpretation is recommended by the National Children's Alliance and in recent literature*. Participation in THICM will provide you a score with which you can measure your level of diagnostic agreement with expert diagnosticians.
* Adams JA; Kaplan RA; Starling SP; Mehta NH; Finkel MA; Botash AS; Kellogg ND; Shapiro RA. Guidelines for medical care of children who may have been sexually abused. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol;20(3):163-72, 2007 Jun.
Q: How many cases should I submit to you?
You can send images from as many or as few exams as you wish. In order to take full advantage of this quality improvement process we suggest that you send images from at least 10 exams, perhaps 3 normal and 7 abnormal exams, every three years.
Q: Are some types of exam findings more useful than others?
Yes. Abnormal pre-pubertal and pubertal female genitalia and abnormal anal images provide the best review experience.
Q: Can I send you images from past exams?
Yes
Q: What if the images don’t show the exam findings very well?
We will not be able to comment on non-diagnostic photographs.
Q: Are my examination interpretations confidential?
Yes. The reviewers are blinded to your identity.
Q: Is this HIPAA compliant?
Yes. You will not send any patient identifying information to THICM.
Q: Why should I trust the diagnostic opinion of the THICM reviewers if it differs from my opinion?
If the expert reviewer disagrees with your opinion, an additional expert will independently review the images. The combined THICM exam interpretation will then be reported to you.
Q: What should I do with the information I obtain from THICM regarding my degree of consensus with the expert reviewers?
You may request a THICM degree of consensus report.
Q: If my degree of consensus is less than I would like, what steps can I take to increase my diagnostic skills?
THICM will provide you with suggested educational resources.
Q: Will the THICM reviewers make their examination interpretation known to anyone but myself?
No. The image review is de-identified. Only you can associate the THICM case with the images.
DISCLAIMER: TeleHealth Institute for Child Maltreatment (THICM) is a service to make child sexual abuse expertise available to all Child Advocacy Center medical providers throughout the United States regardless of location. The service is designed to provide reviews by an expert for educational and quality improvement purposes and is not intended to be used for initial diagnostic or treatment purposes or to serve as a second opinion for a specific case. This service is not a replacement for a consultation or to address issues related to a specific patient.
