Banty Co-Founder and Medical Director, Dr. Richard Tytus, provided the subject matter and direction for this article. The author would like to thank Adam Grant for his editorial assistance in writing the article. Dr. Richard Tytus takes responsibility for the content of the article.
For every healthcare professional out there, it is important to establish trust with your patients. They want to know the information and guidance being provided to them has been well-thought out and will prove fruitful over time. Without said trust, forming the best relationship possible with a patient becomes tougher to achieve.
Throughout the COVID-19 global pandemic, healthcare professionals around the world have turned to virtual medicine solutions as a way to care for their patients while minimizing unnecessary in-person contact. However, one challenge faced by some of those in the medical field has been getting patients to trust the idea of having an online doctor’s appointment.
In theory, a healthcare professional like yourself could assume the vast majority of your patients would take your word on why video call appointments are a good thing. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. For those patients who are struggling to trust the validity of online doctor visits, these points could help change their minds:
Virtual Medicine Appointments are Secure
While we can’t speak for other telemedicine service providers out there, Banty Virtual Clinic prides itself on being an ultra-secure solution for doctors looking to meet with patients online.
We are HIPAA/PHIPA compliant for online medicine and all of our doctor-patient meeting rooms have end-to-end encryption to ensure all discussions remain private. What’s more, Banty Virtual Clinic does not collect or store information disclosed during any online doctor’s appointment conducted on the platform.
Finally, Banty Virtual Clinic also has a door lock feature that – when enabled – keeps individuals from accidentally entering their physician’s meeting room ahead of their scheduled appointment time.
Virtual Medicine Appointments Were Created for Convenience
Talk to a room full of patients and a large sum of them will agree that getting to and from a doctor’s appointment can be an inconvenient experience. From having to take multiple hours off of work, to lugging children around, to commuting a lengthy distance to get to a clinic, this can prove tiresome.
For appointments that don’t necessarily require you and the patient being in the same physical room as one another, virtual visits are the way to go.
Simply explain to patients that the care being offered to them virtually is by no means second tier when compared to in-person appointments. Rather, you’re saving them hours of hassle, as well as the possibility of having to sit in a crowded waiting room where viruses can easily spread.
Doctors Wouldn’t Use Video Call Services if Unsure About Them
Since doctors by-and-large are not mandated to offer virtual medicine services to patients, they have to decide whether or not offering live video chats online with patients is the way to go.
Thus, if you have chosen to offer such a service to patients, that alone should prove your confidence in such a method of care. Patients already trust your opinion on their health matters and know you would not steer them in the wrong direction. Following you toward virtual care should then not be an issue for them.
Now, you may have to explain to patients how easy telehealth appointments can be and that you wholeheartedly trust the process of them. You may also have to get your clinical team to briefly explain to patients the ins and outs of how to see a doctor online.
Before you know it, though, these patients who took the leap will continuously book online medicine appointments whenever possible. They will certainly no longer wonder if this technology is a fad, or something great doctors (like you!) truly believe in.
