Traditionally, remote consultations via Skype or other video conferencing services have been used for low-risk medical needs. For e.g managing common symptoms like seasonal allergies, minor skin issues, cold, upset stomach, etc.
Given the potential need to screen symptomatic patients for COVID-19, providers will want to work with public health authorities to establish screening protocols to determine the need for COVID-19 testing.
Many practices already have the technology solutions in place to conduct remote visits, for they have recognized the benefits of TeleHealth to help reduce the cost of care as well as improve patient access and experience.
For those that do not, a few key points should be considered in deploying a remote visit strategy.
While authorities, both state and federal temporarily have reduced regulations requiring adherence to HIPAA, as regards web-based commercial tools such as FaceTime or Skype; in the longer term, these tools do not have the privacy safeguards to be HIPAA compliant and are not integrated with health record and billing systems.
Integrated, HIPAA compliant tools will lessen the challenges practices may face regarding workflow and will align with the movement to value-based care while maintaining patient privacy protections.
Truetelehealth offers a highly capable video visit tool, further details may be found here https://www.truetelehealth.com/.
Given the potential need to screen symptomatic patients for COVID-19, providers will want to work with public health authorities to establish screening protocols to determine the need for COVID-19 testing.
For the duration of the pandemic, providers will also want to look at the common care needs of patients in their local population and prioritize remote visits for low-risk conditions which should be addressed in the short term and do not require an in-facility visit.
Many practices already have the technology solutions in place to conduct remote visits, for they have recognized the benefits of TeleHealth to help reduce the cost of care as well as improve patient access and experience.
For those that do not, a few key points should be considered in deploying a remote visit strategy.
Firstly, it is important to consider how EHR and practice management systems will integrate with the TeleHealth tool, or be used concurrently with the remote consult to facilitate clinical documentation.
While authorities, both state and federal temporarily have reduced regulations requiring adherence to HIPAA, as regards web-based commercial tools such as FaceTime or Skype; in the longer term, these tools do not have the privacy safeguards to be HIPAA compliant and are not integrated with health record and billing systems.
Integrated, HIPAA compliant tools will lessen the challenges practices may face regarding workflow and will align with the movement to value-based care while maintaining patient privacy protections.
Truetelehealth offers a highly capable video visit tool, further details may be found here https://www.truetelehealth.com/.
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