You have finally decided to implement telemedicine into your practice, or you already have but your patients are not too sure about the use of it. What can you do?
In this case, knowledge is power and you will have to empower your patients with the right information. After all, telemedicine will only benefit your patients.
You have finally decided to implement telemedicine into your practice, or you already have but your patients are not too sure about the use of it. What can you do?
In this case, knowledge is power and you will have to empower your patients with the right information. After all, telemedicine will only benefit your patients.
It is important to remind your patients that real-time video encounters between patients and their physicians are a powerful tool that supports their health.
And that full integration of telemedicine into your practice means that your patients have a greater access to on-demand care with the touch of a button.
But getting your patients to transition and adopt telemedicine will ultimately come down to doing marketing. By just offering a real-time video visit is not enough. Telemedicine options need to be offered in a way that feels integrated and smooth to their health.
There are clearly so many more reasons as to why the use of telemedicine will benefit your patients, that it is critical to provide them with the right information.
Thanks to the convenience, ease, and affordability of these services, providers and patients could no longer be concerned with office hours or travel times to and from your practice. Telemedicine certainly gives healthcare systems the chance to achieve a more flexible infrastructure. Now it is up to you and your staff to encourage its usage.
We have listed a few tips on how to prepare your patients for a telemedicine transition:
Increase awareness of Telemedicine services
You might offer telemedicine services but there is a possibility that your patients are not aware of that or if they do know about them, they are not quite sure what that means.
It is important to create awareness of the telemedicine capabilities through broad messaging to a wide audience. You can create educational materials that encourage the use of telemedicine by patients. You should tailor this according to the patient’s needs or for those patients with particular medical conditions. Consider designing some that are tailored to caregivers who assist patients with their care.
Encourage nurses and staff make use of the services
In a perfect world everyone will be using telemedicine services, but sometimes even our staff can be afraid of using the new systems. If we encourage our staff to use them, they will be more likely to recommend the use to your patients.
Remind them that by using these services they are providing better healthcare services to your community. It will also retain revenues in your practice, instead of having to refer patients to other providers. That means more work and more money for your practice and staff.
Drive utilization of services by patients and referring providers
The opportunity of having access to specialists with telemedicine services at your practice reduces the long wait times to see specialists who are far away from your patients.
It is critical to remind your patients that even though these specialists are in their community, they can still address their concern and issues. It will also avoid costs of having to travel to see specialists, or take time off from work or away from family, etc.
Ensure your patient that these services are HIPAA compliant
Privacy is a big issue at the moment, and patients can be concerned about engaging in a face-to-face visit.
Ensure that your practice is using HIPAA compliant systems so you are able to reassure your patients that their information is tightly secured and that it is safe to engage in these types of visits.