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.
As a doctor, you have determined that offering telemedicine services to patients is something that would be of benefit to the medical clinic for which you are a part of. You are a big fan of the technology, appreciate its flexibility, as well as how it allows you to – when necessary – conduct online doctor’s appointments from remote locations.
Even if you, as well as the clinical team that works beside you, have an overwhelmingly positive feeling about virtual medicine, it is still important to keep an eye on how your patients are reacting to it.
In order to get a better read of the room, here’s how you can determine how patients are feeling about the online doctor visits you provide.
Request Feedback
Getting feedback from patients can be a tricky endeavour. Yes, one-to-one interactions regarding the quality of doctor-patient video calls can be significant, it’s tough to build proper data through casual conversation.
Instead, consider including a survey on your clinic’s website and encourage telemedicine appointment participants to fill it out. Additionally, this same survey could also be shared as part of any email-related communication you regularly have with patients.
Whichever avenue you select, questions can pertain to how hard or easy a patient felt your telemedicine solution was to understand; how the doctor performed during the virtual visit; as well as what improvements could be made moving forward.
Keep an Eye on Patient Engagement
An easy way to see if your telemedicine strategy is working is to keep an eye on how patients are engaging with the services.
For instance, have you noticed a spike in appointment volume now that video calls are being offered? If so, you have either gained new patients whose previous physicians didn’t offer such a treatment option. Or your existing patients who put off in-person appointments due to logistical complications (i.e., getting time off work, a lengthy commute, etc.), are now being seen on a regular basis because of the virtual visit option.
Either way, this is a BIG win.
Additionally, the convenience patients are seeing as a result of online doctor’s appointments, could lead to fewer sessions being cancelled at the last minute. Since many telemedicine solutions make it simple for patients to connect with doctors via a computer, smartphone, or tablet, there are fewer reasons for these individuals to entirely cancel an appointment.
Only Necessary Appointments are Happening In-Person
Even after a patient learns how to find a doctor online, they need to know that there will be certain instances in which they will have to see their doctor in-person.
That said, you know your online medicine services are working when a good chunk of your patients only make in-person appointments when absolutely necessary. By this happening, you are saving patients from needless trips to your brick-and-mortar location, thus saving them time, energy, and stress.
If you find that patients are insisting upon in-person appointments when they are unnecessary, the clinic should reevaluate how it is approaching patients about such virtual appointments. This could include how substantive the messaging is, as well as if enough education is being provided to patients who are not tech savvy.
Complaints are Minimal
Not every patient will be happy about their telehealth video conference experience. Inevitably some patients will find the process uncomfortable or confusing.
But, if the complaints are few and far between, it means a majority of your patients are getting the most out of the telemedicine services being offered to them. What’s more, it means your clinic is doing an awesome job at making the process attractive to patients.
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