Telemedicine has advanced from a curious clinical communication to a mainstay in how providers and consumers interact. This care delivery system can help you see more patients remotely to expand your services and ensure patient satisfaction from wherever they are.
Telemedicine creates an opportunity for medical practices to offer their healthcare services remotely, which can help them increase revenue, reduce costs, and relieve the administrative burden on their staff.
Therefore, here are some other telemedicine benefits, according to the American Telemedicine Association (ATA):
- Enhanced reach of healthcare services
- Reduced cost structure
- Higher customer satisfaction
- Creates value for payers, consumers, and providers
- 24/7 coverage
Telemedicine enables providers to spend more time focusing on patients in a higher capacity. It also allows them to alleviate some of the burden and time management on the patient’s side. This can help you prioritize appointments by defining which approach fits best your patient’s needs.
This remote healthcare services delivery approach combined with in-person visits ensures patients needing the highest level of care have better access to same-day appointments if necessary, and practice profitability is maximized.
Here are five best practices you can follow to optimize your telemedicine appointments:
1. Prepare your patient before the telemedicine appointment
Ensure you obtain your patient’s informed consent form before the telemedicine session. Assess the patient’s familiarity with telemedicine and provide orientation as needed before the virtual encounter. Consider giving your patients a telemedicine checklist to help them better understand the process, set expectations, and prepare appropriately.
2. Set up the stage
Be familiar with the equipment and technology you will be using. Contact your IT (Information Technology) team to help you be ready for the encounter. Have a better understanding of how the system works, including how to troubleshoot common problems. Although the technological component is important, the environmental one is essential as well. Ensure you have good lighting, minimize background noise, and confirm with patients that they can hear and see you well.
3. Have all documentation ready
Remember to have your patient’s previous visit notes on hand. This will help if you need to refer to a patient’s previous note during a session for a proper diagnosis. In addition, it would help if you stayed on top of any insurance policy changes regarding telemedicine. Regularly check with payers to ensure your patients are still covered.
4. Create a pleasant and professional telemedicine environment
Communication is as essential in telemedicine as in any other patient’s visit. It is crucial to create an engaging and safe environment for the patient. Remember to maintain eye contact with the patient. This creates a positive and meaningful experience. If you need to look away, explain why you are doing it, so they will not assume you are not paying attention.
5. Have multiple online payment options
Enlist a good payment processor that integrates with your patient portal, website, or practice management software (PMS). This will make things easier for your patient and help you collect your payments for these encounters faster. Read more on our blog Get paid for telehealth & non-face-to-face visits during COVID-19
Health Prime can help!
Telemedicine alone can help you increase revenue. However, this care delivery system, added with other services like Chronic Care Management, Remote Patient Monitoring, or Principal Care Management, can help you maximize your reimbursements and ensure patient satisfaction.
Health Prime partners with your practice in value-based care to drive clinical and financial outcomes. We function as an extension of your care team. Our nationally certified managed care team will lead you in selecting programs and best-practice implementation strategies.
Learn more about optimizing your telemedicine appointments and making the most out of them for your practice. Feel free to reach us at [email protected]. Our team will set up a meeting to discuss how Health Prime can maximize your revenue by cutting costs, saving time, and collecting more!
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