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.
Not everyone embraces change right away. In fact, many people are intimidated by it, and this is what leaves them waiting in the wings instead of hopping at the chance to potentially improve their situation.
In the medical profession, COVID-19 forced many healthcare practitioners to change how they went about seeing their patients. To respect public health measures and keep patients a safe distance from clinic staff, as well as one another, doctors throughout the world began using virtual medicine services – like doctor-patient video calls.
However, despite wide acceptance of such technology, not all doctors have felt comfortable offering online doctor’s appointments. Some, we might argue, are downright intimidated by the idea of having video conferences with patients. This is a tough spot to be in.
The truth of the matter is that having a live video chat online with a patient is nothing to be concerned about. As such, doctors should not be intimidated by virtual medicine, because:
Telemedicine Solutions are Easy to Learn
The best part about telemedicine solutions is that you do not need to be the most tech savvy person in the world to learn how they work.
Banty Virtual Clinic, for instance, prides itself on being a secure and abundantly easy solution for doctors who want to have virtual visits with patients. Doctors who use our service get to create a unique Banty room address (i.e., Banty.com/MyClinic). This link is the only one patients will need to access a video call with their doctor.
What’s more, Banty lets doctors adjust the bandwidth of their video call so that it’s in-tune with their Internet speed. For poor, or spotty, connections, calls can be converted to audio-only.
Meanwhile, each virtual waiting room can be customized with colours, text, and imagery consistent with a medical clinic’s branding.
This Technology Improves the Quality of a Practice
Over time, the day-to-day routine a medical clinic has established can prove itself to be mundane and – at worst – overly dated.
Implementing a virtual medicine solution is the easiest thing a practice can do to not just liven up the environment’s workflow, but also modernize it. Sure, it may take time to get clinic staff up to speed on how to adjust their day-to-day work experience, but in the end, the reward will be a much more inspiring – and productive – atmosphere.
Virtual Medicine Complements What a Doctor Already Knows
Apart from learning the technological ins and outs of an online medicine solution, doctors do not need to worry about communication with patients being negatively impacted by it.
During virtual visits, it remains important for doctors to still use the same bedside manner that they always have. They should still be as personable, considerate, informative, and understanding as they would be in-person.
Yes, there will be times where an online doctor visit may bring with it some wrinkles that doctors need to adjust to on the fly, but overall, doctors will just need to continually trust their abilities.
Patients Will Welcome the Opportunity
While some patients may be a little resistant and not want to know how to see a doctor online, a whole other faction of patients will welcome the chance to see their doctor virtually.
The latter demographic will be happy about how simple it is to have a doctor-patient video call, and also celebrate the fact that they’ll no longer have to hang out at a clinic’s crowded waiting room.
Additionally, patients will be thrilled to know that their doctor values their time, and will only invite them to an in-person appointment when it’s absolutely necessary.
Better Treatment Can Be Provided to Everyone
One of the most unfortunate by-products of the COVID-19 global pandemic was people not seeing their doctor and thus not having certain conditions properly diagnosed in a timely fashion. This largely happened because certain clinics closed, while other doctors didn’t offer a video call option.
If there’s one ultimate reason for not being intimidated by virtual medicine, it should be because having such services available can save lives.
Tap here to learn more about Banty Virtual Clinic!
