Prior to the pandemic, many hospitals offered telemedicine. Some patients find it safer and easier to receive care from home for follow-ups or non-urgent issues. COVID-19 escalated the growth of telemedicine dramatically, with an expected 1 billion visits by the end of the year. And most experts say it’s here to stay. Here are four tips and tricks to continue growing your telemedicine program.
1. Make Telemedicine Easy to Access
Patients and physicians alike have varying levels of technological abilities. Implementing a program that’s difficult to use and requires a lot of steps to boot up will discourage many. It’s important to make sure that the user experience—on both sides—will be seamless. Consider whether or not patients will need to download another app to access the platform. Will there be additional log in credentials that they’ll need to remember? Navigating a new program can be frustrating for both patients and physicians, so make sure that it’s easy to use. Regardless of the platform, ensure patient instructions are concise and complete, and include a support line, should additional questions arise. Your virtual visit depends on it.
2. Gain Provider Buy-in
If your clinicians aren't on board with your telemedicine strategy, no one will be. Choose something that (again) is easy to use for physicians and integrates into their typical workflow. Partner with your physician communication team to ensure they’re aware of the telemedicine benefits and the solutions that are available to them. Provide visuals detailing the patient experience as well. You can’t over communicate! Mention the program in meetings, newsletters, on intranets, and also include details on any support lines or emails should they get stuck.
3. Integrate a Rating System
Once you have something up and running, you’ll want to know how it’s performing, and if it’s checking all the boxes. If you don’t already, work with your IT team to include a post-visit survey to see whether patients had a good experience. By discovering the root of any negative experiences (and positive ones too), you’ll be able to troubleshoot if there’s an issue with the technology itself or connectivity difficulties. This can be a great way to get a client quote that you can repurpose for web pages and handouts.
4. Let Patients Know It’s Available Now
This might sound pretty obvious, but there’s more to promoting the program than meets the eye. Update your website to include information about your telehealth program and make sure that your SEO campaign (or even SEM) is aligned with your telemedicine strategy. Alert your patients in your emails or newsletter about the opportunity for a virtual visit and provide a step by step guide on how to get started. Mentioning the cost up front (usually very low) can encourage a patient to take the jump and try it. Develop content such as blog posts to outline the benefits of telehealth or promote on social media. If you have an app for patients, make sure to include a banner alerting them to the opportunity.
Regardless of what program you choose, it’s vital you offer a telemedicine solution for your patients, because otherwise they will find someone who does. Now more than ever, patients feel safer making telemedicine appointments and have found out how beneficial they can be. Telemedicine is here to stay.
If you’re looking for a platform to use, or are thinking about upgrading, check out the benefits of Doximity’s simple, secure telemedicine solution, Dialer Pro.