5 mistakes to avoid, when implementing Telemedicine in your clinic

by Biliana Barker – Director Seneca Advisory

Telemedicine has created a new world of opportunity for the Healthcare industry overall.

Healthcare professionals are now able to create time for prioritisation with more flexible case management via remote consultations. Clinics are increasing revenue by creating Digital Front Doors, where patients can book in minutes, from the comfort of their own home or office,  initial appointments, follow ups and check ups with their doctors. Healthcare settings, large or small, have achieved better resource utilisation, by streaming online admin queries, reducing phone and face time for transactional needs.

The pandemic has accelerated the use of technology in healthcare and it is here to stay. We can see the channel shift already achieved in banking and retail and we can see that Telemedicine is inevitably improving the patient journey and professional experience if we implement the right product, the right way.

What are the 5 most common mistake doctors make when implementing Telemedicine.

1. Choosing an inappropriate product for your needs, operational flow and working style. Many clinics are selecting products that have very limited functionality and replicate video apps, already available for free. We often percept Telemedicine as an “Online consultation app”, where we just communicate with our patients via video or telephone, but it is much more.

The best Telemedicine products/systems offer more opportunity to create streams of revenue for the clinics and help with the patient management and resource utilisation. Think of a system, that will help you grow your business and go for more features, even if you don’t think you need them right now.

Consider a product that will be intuitive for your patients. Having an app version for both doctors and patients will create more flexible access and convenience.

Check if the product supports scheduling, sending images, additional forms and documents, that the clinic may want to review. Ensure the tool can book appointments direct in calendars, take payments upfront, send SMS, email reminders, offers speech to text conversion, additional languages. Confirm data protection and security, access to patient records, product support ,deployment and training assistance.

2. Doctors responding to all the queries themselves.

Doctors rightly believe in the power of their knowledge and skills and traditionally the relationship with technology has been slow to trust and adopt compared to other industries. Start looking at how best to use these Telemedicine systems to create more time to help patients, those who need more clinical input and signpost other queries to members of our team.

Focus on how to empower our admin people and other clinicians to pre-assess the streams of enquiries and achieve better work-life balance. Train members of staff to filter the Online requests and “gatekeep” the Digital Front Door.

3. Bringing a new Telemedicine system, without changing the existing workflows and patterns.

The big advantage of implementing Telemedicine is that we bring technology to free time, to retain patients and create efficiencies and new revenue streams. Just “switching it on” is unlikely to deliver these outcomes. Telemedicine is not just an IT system with a website banner, or an icon to click.

Invest time for the implementation. Ensure that once a request has been received in your clinic, it will be responded to by the right person, in a reasonable timescale. Set up protocols – who does what, in what time scale. Focus on how to utilise the telemedicine system within your practice. Look what else consumes phone time and face time, what type of requests can be moved and dealt with online. Prescriptions, sick notes, med reviews… Identify what other services you can create and add to your existing offering.

4. Promote Telemedicine very little, or promote as “a second best” option, because we are not confident if it is going to work.

Promoting widely this new Digital Front door is going to pay off. Patients across the world are embracing the opportunity to consult with their doctors Online. Exposure to your patients will give you valuable ideas of how to achieve the channel shift and attract more clients, especially from specific groups: people with mobility problems, mental health and other challenges, moms with young children, who prefer this way of communication due to various constraints.

High volumes of online requests and activities will give you more reasons to review your operation and utilise recourses.

Telemedicine as an added solution in your practice is often seen as big advantage for your clients with ability to enhance your brand.

Invest in communicating the advantages and benefits to your patients. Promote this as a new, very exciting route for your patients, rather than as alternative to an in person appointment

Incorporate this innovation of your service in your Social Media strategy and content.

5. Overcomplicating the existing workflow.

Not investing time and understanding how this can best work could bring frustration and prevent adoption and uptake from patients and staff. Making it overcomplicated could do the same and ultimately create more work.

Clinics and doctors see this as an IT system, but Telemedicine is an operational and cultural change to help, not to create more work.

Review your current flow and challenges, test the product before launch and train yourself and your staff. Understand your patients. Consider the digital maturity of your team and clients. Confidence within your team will drive adoption and encourage usage amongst your patients.

The change should be comfortable and blend with your existing flow and style as much as possible.