Here's your quick roundup of what happened in virtual care this week. Grab a coffee. It's short, I promise.

The Big One: The DEA Rule Is Almost Here

In 2008, Congress told the DEA to create a "special registration" so clinicians could prescribe controlled substances via telehealth. The deadline was 2019. It's now 2026, and the DEA has finally sent its final rule to the White House for review.

To be fair, some of us have also had a project sitting at "almost done" for a while.

The text isn't public yet, but the timing matters. The current Telehealth prescribing flexibilities expire December 31, 2026, and the final rule could land before then. The 2025 proposal included separate registrations for Schedule III–V prescribing, an advanced tier for specialists like psychiatrists, and a registration for some Telehealth platforms.

What this means for your practice: If you have prescribers on Telehealth, expect new registration, recordkeeping, and workflow requirements. Start thinking now about who on your team will own this.

Quick Hits

AI scribes keep moving in. A Brooklyn hospital is piloting an ambient AI scribe with 50 physicians, and it has drafted notes for more than 900 visits since May. On the therapy side, the options keep growing, from AI features in SimplePractice to AI-native EHRs like Upheal. The tool matters less than the basics: client consent, a signed BAA, and a clinician who still reads every note before signing it. AI is a great assistant. It is not your co-therapist.

Licensure reform gets a new team. ATA Action launched the Cross-State Care Coalition, with founding members including Johns Hopkins, Talkiatry, and Teladoc Health. The goal is federal legislation that makes it easier to keep seeing established patients across state lines, with mental health services on the priority list. If you've ever had a client move two states over and wondered whether you could keep seeing them, this one is for you.

Rural health dollars reach behavioral Telehealth. Rural Health Transformation Program funding is starting to flow. West Virginia awarded money for Telehealth upgrades supporting behavioral health and addiction medicine, and Mississippi awarded over $1.2 million to expand telehealth in schools. Pennsylvania practices should keep an eye out for our state's rounds.

Thank you to Morning Brew - my favorite daily podcast - for sponsoring this week's update. Check them out!

Coming Up in October: Tech in Behavioral Health Settings

Starting Tuesday, the Tuesday Telehealth Tip kicks off a new 4-part series:

• Oct 6: Your EHR should play well with others. Interoperability without the headaches.
• Oct 13: Outcomes without spreadsheets. Measurement-based care that runs itself.
• Oct 20: Telehealth for every patient. Tools that work on any device, including the flip phone.
• Oct 27: Security and AI. Protecting sensitive data while letting smart tools do the grunt work.

Four Tuesdays, four tips you can actually use.

Questions about any of this? Just hit reply. I read every one.

Talk soon,
Dan

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