5 Innovative Ways to Improve Your Medical Practice with Telemedicine

Healthcare practitioners are constantly looking for methods that will let them improve medical practice by expanding their services with high-quality online patient care. According to statistics provided by McKinsey.com, the range of telehealth services has grown each year since 2019, with over 80 new services approved by the Center of Medicare & Medicaid. Medical practices have actively embraced this new technology, as it gives them and their patients the flexibility to provide and receive effective medical care remotely.

Let’s learn more about five ways you can improve your medical practice by using telemedicine software and its robust functionality.

1- Implement workflows to solve organizational issues

Poor organization during a visit is one of the most common complaints from patients using both in-person and online services. Organizational matters, such as delays, long wait times, and lack of preparation from the specialist’s side, waste time that could be spent productively.

One of the best ways to avoid organizational issues is to prepare for video communication beforehand.

With telemedicine software, you can:

• set up notifications to give patients a heads-up when their appointment is about to begin
• create and share patient consent documents that can be e-signed before the visit
• provide the patient with an intake form to gain more insight into what they are experiencing

Another thing you have to pay attention to is your own technology preparedness. You have to ensure you have a reliable internet connection. You should also check that your headset and camera are working properly because interruptions in video communication may also lead patients to believe there is a general lack of organization.

2- Automate the tasks that shouldn’t be handled manually

Whenever you feel overwhelmed by piles of documents or are mixing up scheduled and canceled appointments, it may be because you are manually completing tasks that can be automated. Let’s check out what can be done without your interference by implementing telemedicine software.

Online appointment scheduling and management

With automated scheduling, you can set up your working hours and then let the patients book appointments themselves in the free slots you have set up beforehand. Another great option is to implement a policy that will monitor patient no-shows and last-minute cancelations.

Automated reminders

Most of the no-shows happen because the patient simply forgets about the appointment. To avoid such situations, you can set up automated reminders to inform your patients of the approaching appointment’s date and time. Additionally, you can also share a short guide with them that explains how to connect to the telemedicine platform and check if their camera is connected and working.

Online payment integration

Use an online payment system to have patients pay upfront. If the payment system is integrated into your telemedicine software, you will know if the patient has paid for the visit in advance. Also, patients that have already paid for your services are less likely to skip visits.

Implement treatment notes

This is a go-to solution if you want to keep track of your patients’ progress. You won’t need to go looking into paper notebooks to find the necessary information as all the notes will be securely kept within the telemedicine software system.

Keep track of your income

To simplify the way you report your income to tax agencies, you can use the payment history function of telemedicine software where all receipts and bookings are kept. This will eventually help you cut down on the time you spend locating necessary tax information.

3- Improve your communication with patients

Effective communication with patients is crucial for your medical practice’s success. You have to remember that online communication is no exception. Work on creating more points of communication between you and your patient to build a personalized relationship. Think through each patient interaction, starting with marketing and onboarding and ending with patient satisfaction estimation and patient support throughout your mutual journey.

4- Grow your brand

Healthcare technology not only helps you cope with possible organizational issues but also impacts the way you represent your brand by assisting you in service promotion. While you’re growing your brand, increasing your social media presence, and writing content for your blog, telemedicine software can help you by offering an easy way to collect anonymous feedback.

If you get patient consent, you can then share their feedback on various platforms and use it in your own content. You will also have the option to create a booking form and embed it into the platforms you use to make it easier for patients to book your services. Using an embedded booking link will help you skip the clumsy multistep appointment booking process, which often leads to losing possible clients.

5- Strengthen your security

Security is one of the main concerns in the telemedicine field because unauthorized access to patients’ personal information, especially related to their state of health, can potentially lead to personal information abuse and fraud. The platform you use for telemedicine must be compliant with the Standards for Electronic Personal Health Information Protection. If security can’t be ensured, you will accrue penalties imposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. That’s why you can’t be too cautious when implementing security measures. Make sure to:

• check that your hard drive is encrypted
• use 2-factor authentication
• pick telehealth software that is HIPAA-compliant
• pay attention to software updates that impact security

You have to be confident that all the channels you use for communication with patients are secure. This includes video conferencing, messaging, and document sharing.

Final thoughts

Because technology keeps evolving every day, learning how to improve your medical practice is a constant process. In this article, we tried to shed some light on the power of telemedicine software and the ways it can help you improve your workflow. While we discussed how telemedicine software can assist you in branding, security matters, and online visit organization, the telemedicine field continues to evolve and may help your workflow in new ways in the future.