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 you begin to practice telemedicine at your clinic, you will have instances in which certain patients will ask if it’s possible for a loved one to accompany them on their video call.
This request could be made if family and friends are there to help translate what the doctor is communicating, or to simply gain a better awareness of the person’s condition. In other instances, loved ones will be wanted nearby to help the patient navigate virtual medicine technology.
Regardless of the reasoning, if having these people around will assist a patient during the course of an appointment, by all means, encourage them to join the call.
Here how to manage this scenario when it comes up:
Be Empathetic and Welcoming of the Idea
Whether the accompaniment request is first brought up by the patient or a loved one, be empathetic and welcoming. Realize that not everyone – for a variety of reasons – is equipped to fully grasp telemedicine technology, test results, prescriptions, or a diagnosis.
As long as the patient is comfortable with having a third party join them for an online medicine appointment, then this request should be quickly accommodated.
Going this route will make the patient more comfortable and confident in the fact they will not only be able to get to their appointment, but they’ll also have someone there to help them understand everything discussed.
Ahead of Time, Know Who Will be Accompanying the Patient
For administrative and privacy purposes, see that your clinical team is able to get the names of those who will join a patient during a video conference.
Having this knowledge in advance will ensure that the right people enter an appointment, as well as prepare the doctor for how many people they will be conversing with.
If a patient is booking their next virtual visit and are unsure about who might be joining them for it, follow up closer to the appointment date to see if that has changed. Otherwise, see if the patient can provide a list of potential attendees.
Provide Loved Ones with Access to the Appointment
With Banty Virtual Clinic, an online doctor’s appointment is easily accessible thanks to the unique Banty room address (i.e., Banty.com/MyClinic) subscribers get to create.
Whenever a patient decides to book a doctor’s appointment online with you, your custom URL is the only thing they will need to enter the video call. They will not be sent a randomly generated alphanumeric link, or a complicated password.
Once it is confirmed which loved ones will join a patient for their next telemedicine session, see that these individuals have access to your Banty room address.
With Banty Virtual Clinic, these loved ones can enter the appointment from separate locations than the patient.
Be Prepared to Offer Tech Support for All
Even though Banty Virtual Clinic is exceptionally easy for anyone to operate, you will have patients – and loved ones of patients – who struggle with it at first. That’s okay, not everyone gets certain forms of technology right away.
As such, it’s best that everyone at the clinic be fully versed in Banty Virtual Clinic so that tech support for patients, and those close to them, can be offered at a moment’s notice. This will help keep appointments on-track and stress levels low.
Speak to Everyone, but Focus on the Patient
When there are a handful of individuals attending a telehealth appointment, it is crucial to focus on the patient when discussing the matter(s) at hand. Even if a patient isn’t understanding everything being explained, they will appreciate your attentiveness.
At this juncture, though, loved ones will need to become involved to ensure everyone in the room knows what’s going on, and what next steps – if any at all – need to be taken next.
Having more ears in the room will take the pressure off a patient who’s nervous about forgetting important bits of information.
Tap here to learn more about Banty Virtual Clinic and how it can help your clinic.
Also, don’t forget to download the Banty video chat app from The App Store or Google Play.
