
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced an expansion of telemedicine benefits for Medicare beneficiaries this month. Leaders from the federal government and the healthcare industry are promoting an increased use of telemedicine as a way to provide continuity of care without patients visiting a doctor’s office in person.
For healthcare providers, this means a reduction in most of the restrictions previously covering telemedicine practice. At Vital Interaction we’ve seen an immediate uptick from our clients in the use of telemedicine in their practices, including providers moving to all virtual office visits in response to COVID-19. It’s clear to us now that telemedicine will play a critical component in the future of healthcare delivery in the country as the industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace.
We urge you to consider implementing telemedicine now to engage with patients in the short term and to begin building the tools your practice needs to enhance telehealth services in the future. Not only does it offer immediate revenue generation, but telemedicine also provides additional benefits to both providers and patients.
In response to concerns we’ve heard about how to implement telemedicine and begin conducting virtual patient visits today, we offer these tips:
Communicating with patients about telemedicine visits
If you’re implementing telemedicine for the first time, it’s important to get the patient communication just right. That’s where we can help! Vital Interaction’s platform makes it easy to simplify, automate and set-up patient communications that are specific to telehealth services.
Here’s what we recommend:
Message Cadence and Set Up – Send out a pre-appointment message that includes:
Telehealth Appointment Reminder: Send a text and an email an hour or two before the appointment that includes the link for joining the meeting, as well as the emergency contact number in case it doesn’t work.
Appointment Starting Message: Send a text and an email at the time of the appointment, with the call-in instructions, meeting link, FAQs, and emergency contact number.
Here are some sample messages:
Email (for using Zoom): “Hi {first_name}, This is a friendly reminder about your telehealth appointment scheduled with {doctor_name}. Please confirm your appointment by clicking the button below. {weekday} {month} {mday} at {time} [Cancel Confirm options] Prior to your appointment, download the zoom app on your device (laptop, tablet, or smartphone) for the best experience. Make sure you use a device with a camera, mic and strong connection. Please click the below link at your appointment time. Meeting Link: {doctor_custom_msg_1}
If you don’t have access to a device with video, use our call-in option: Call-in number: {doctor_custom_msg_2} Meeting ID: {doctor_custom_msg_3} One tap mobile: {doctor_custom_msg_4} Please call our office at {facility_phone_formatted} if you have any questions. We appreciate your time and look forward to speaking with you soon! Sincerely, {group_name}”
Text (for using Zoom): “Hi {first_name}, This is a friendly reminder about your telehealth appointment scheduled with {doctor_name} on {weekday} {month} {mday} at {time}. Prior to your appointment, download the zoom app on your device (laptop, tablet, or smartphone) for the best experience. Make sure you use a device with a camera, mic and strong connection. Please click on the link below at your appointment time and follow prompts.
Meeting Link: {doctor_custom_msg_1} If you don’t have access to a device with video, use our call in option: Call in number: {doctor_custom_msg_2} Meeting ID: {doctor_custom_msg_3} One tap mobile: {doctor_custom_msg_4} Please call our office at {facility_phone_formatted} if you have any questions. Please reply Y to confirm, or follow this link to cancel {vi_cancel_link}. Reply STOP for no more messages.”
Text / Email: “Hello {first_name}, You have a telehealth appointment scheduled with {doctor_name} at {time} on {small_date}. Please click on the link below AT YOUR APPOINTMENT TIME and follow prompts. {doctor_custom_msg_1} If you lose this link you can go to our website, click About Us, then click on your provider name to see the link on their page.”
Email / text (without link in message): “Tele-medicine is now available at {group_name}! All appointments and services will be Telemed through our website until further notice. Please use a device (laptop, smartphone) with a camera, mic and strong connection to enter our virtual waiting room 5 minutes before your appointment. Stay safe and see you soon!”
Text / Email (phone call appts): “{first_name}, this is a friendly reminder about your telehealth appointment with {doctor_name} at {time} on {small_date}. We will call you for your appointment, you will not need to come to the clinic. We look forward to speaking with you!”
Text/email: “Thank you for using our new telehealth option. At your scheduled appointment time at {time} on {small_date} please click on the link: {doctor_custom_msg_1} to begin your appointment. If you need to cancel your appointment please call us at {facility_phone_formatted}.”
Text / email: “{first_name}, {group name} is confirming your Telemedicine Visit on {small_date} {time} with {doctor_name}. Please use the Link below to access and sign in 1 minute prior to your appointment time. Thank you. {doctor_custom_msg_1}”
Beating Spam Folders in Text and Email
Unfortunately, links in emails and especially text messages are often considered SPAM and may be filtered out before they reach the patient. To help, we recently added new SPAM features for texts using a Short Code. While it doesn’t allow for two-way conversation, it does allow for improved delivery of links. To implement this new feature, contact support.
Provider Custom Message Automation Fields
To allow for automation of messaging, we recommend adding the following provider custom message fields in VI and in your Practice Management System:
Adding these fields gives you the ability to create automated messages regarding telemedicine appointments.
Thinking long term about telemedicine
The sudden uptick in telemedicine use by our client base has caused us at Vital Interaction to rethink our development roadmap and pivot quickly to adding features and new tools that support telemedicine use now and in the future. For example, we’re working on:
As we support the future strength of the healthcare industry and the implementation of new patient-centric technologies like telemedicine to improve outcomes, increase revenues and enhance patient care, we are proud to be on this journey with you.
If you have any questions at all about implementing telehealth in your current practice or suggestions on how we can help now or in the future, please don’t hesitate to reach out. No question is too big (or too small) for our team to tackle with you.
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