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.
When a medical clinic first opens, those running it have the opportunity to determine how it will go about providing patients with the best care possible.
This is when considerations are made regarding staff size, hours of operation, internal processes, as well as how patients are seen and treated.
While new medical clinics will still continue to offer in-person patient appointments, they also have the unique ability to make online doctor’s appointments much more of a priority than older clinics may have the capacity to.
Starting with a Clean Slate
By no means does having an established medical practice serve as a deterrent for adopting an easy and secure virtual medicine solution. In these situations, you still have a patient-base and a trusted staff that has proven time, and time again, an ability to pivot when changes need to be instituted.
However, the big advantage held by new medical clinics is the fact that they have a clean slate. If they choose to offer substantial telemedicine services to patients, the initial day-to-day workflow, structure, and strategies can be created to reflect that.
What’s more, before doors to the clinic open, the entire team – doctors, nurses, and administrative staff – can focus their efforts on learning how to navigate online doctor’s appointments. Such a test drive is much easier to take when there’s no one on the road.
Patient Routines Will Not be Disrupted
The challenge some clinics can have with offering online doctor visits is that some patients will be resistant to this change. For years, if not decades, they’ve become accustomed to the process of travelling to the doctor’s office, sitting in the waiting room, then getting called in to physically see their doctor.
When a new clinic gets going, patients can be told upfront about the care options available to them, and be asked how they’d like to proceed. This allows the clinic to immediately know who’s in for a live video chat online with their doctor, and who would still rather come in for appointments.
If a patient wants in-person appointments, no problem. Don’t try to force them into virtual visits. If a patient desires online doctor visits whenever possible, great, approach future appointments with that knowledge.
Regardless of the preference they’ve chosen, patients will know how their appointment routines work moving forward, and not worry about their routine being altered.
Telemedicine Services are a Selling Point
Certain established practices will avoid offering telemedicine solutions and stick to in-person patient appointments only. This is fine, but these practices run the risk of losing patients more interested in virtually visiting with a doctor, than always having to see one at the brick-and-mortar clinic.
When a new clinic opens up, advertising the fact that it’ll offer online doctor’s appointments will be a huge selling point for some individuals. As such, new patients will not just come as a result of moving to a new area, or a doctor retiring and closing their practice. Now, people could consider switching doctors simply because a virtual care option is not available to them.
The COVID-19 global pandemic has changed the way a lot of patients approach receiving medical treatment. They’ve come to learn that telehealth technology has made it possible to have a video conference with their doctor, instead of potentially catching a virus (COVID-19 or otherwise) while in a waiting room, or en route to an appointment.
A new clinic has a real opportunity to attract patients looking for a more modernized form of treatment that may not be available with their current physician.
When someone searches for ‘how to see a doctor online,’ the nearby clinics (especially the newer ones) who have opted to make telemedicine services a priority, will reap the rewards.
Tap here to learn more about Banty Virtual Clinic and how it can help your clinic better connect with patients in an online, video call environment.
