How Do You Prepare Your Patients for a Productive Virtual Visit?

The rush to adopt telehealth may have led your practice to hit the ground running. The following tactics for transitioning your patients to telemedicine can help you achieve a virtual patient visit that supports and even strengthens your continuity of care. 

Before virtual visits, make sure your patients:

• Write down what they’d like to discuss in advance. If the patient monitors their health status at home, encourage them to write down the readings (such as their blood pressure) before the visit 
• Be ready to list all medications
• Have access to a quiet setting with secure and private Wi-Fi or cellular service  
• Join the visit a few minutes early to complete any pre-visit requirements

The patient should be reminded to:

• Use a device (such as a computer, smartphone, or tablet) with a front-facing camera and a working microphone 
• Allow browser access to camera and microphone
• Make sure they are using a supported device with the most recent operating system. The following devices are typically supported:
  
  • Desktop or laptop
  • Tablet or iPad
  • Android Version 8 or later
  • iPhone 6 or later
• Ensure they use the most up-to-date browser for their device:
  • Computer/Laptop: Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari
  • Android: Google Chrome
  • iPhone/iPad: Safari
• Make sure the device is fully charged

Be proactive to ensure your virtual doctor visits are as effective as your in-office visits—have a staff member call ten minutes before the appointment and make sure the patient can connect to their telehealth visit. The staff member can also use this time to gather intake information.

Learn more from the blog, In the Midst of a Crisis, What Have We Learned About Telehealth?

As your practice increases telehealth use, patients will have questions. The following answers to patients’ frequently asked questions can help you prepare for an appropriate and strategic response.  

• What can I expect from a virtual doctor visit?
  Virtual visits are similar to office visits, but allow patients to visit a provider via video from the comfort of home. There are no hassles with traffic, parking, and waiting rooms.

Tip: An email, text, webpage, or brochure with step-by-step instructions can help patients make a smooth transition from in-office visits to virtual visits.

• What if there’s a technical problem with a virtual patient visit?
  Patients should test their device and connection before appointments. Staff members can assist in resolving technical difficulties. 

• How secure is a virtual patient visit?
  Before a virtual doctor visit, patients can discuss with their practice the measures in place to safeguard their privacy and health records. A secure, HIPAA-compliant HD video provides this level of protection. 

This brief overview of tips and FAQs will help your practice save time as your virtual patient visit use grows and becomes foundational in your patient/provider relationships. See more FAQs to be ready for what providers and patients might ask your practice staff. 

To educate your patients about the benefits of virtual doctor visits, read Ways to Shift Your Patients to Telehealth. 

Enhance your telehealth experience - Learn more about the various tools that can help your practice, access your Telehealth Marketing Toolkit now. This resource is packed with practical tips, videos, educational/promotional materials, and other tools to be well prepared in the new healthcare era. 

Are you prepared for on-camera virtual health visits? Share your feedback with us.