Why Introduce Telemedicine into Your Practice? 

By now, you have likely heard of telemedicine but may be unsure how to best implement it into your practice. Employers are increasingly offering telemedicine as a lower cost option for employees1 and at least 29 states now require health insurers to pay for telemedicine services.2 With the telemedicine technology market expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate at more than 18 percent by 2020. It only makes sense to jump on board or be left behind in a competitive industry. Telemedicine  reduces in-office overhead and improves the provider’s efficiency. This makes it possible for the practitioner spend more time on each visit or to see more patients. The ease-of-access for patients reduces no-show, improve compliance with the provider care plan. It also allows practitioners to work from home, choose their own hours and reduce the amount of time it takes to see patients. 

Telemedicine is a prescription for any practice wanting to improve: 

Revenue - Implementation of a telemedicine program generated 11% in cost savings, leading to an estimated ROI of $3.30 in cost savings for every $1 spent 

Patient accessibility - 76% of patients care more about access to healthcare than need for human interactions with their provider

Patient care - No patient outcome difference was found between telemedicine appointments and in-person office visits 

Competitiveness - about 90% of healthcare execs report their organizations have already begun developing or implementing a telemedicine program

Physician work/life balance - 79% of physicians consider video visits to promote a more flexible work-life schedule

One of the most common concerns of practitioners is that implementing telemedicine will be expensive, complicated and time consuming. Fortunately, because of cloud technology, in four steps, you can implement telemedicine affordably, easily and quickly. 

Step 1: Define goals, strategy & timeline 

Clearly articulate the goals of implementing telemedicine, how and when you will measure progress, and exactly how and when you plan to reach those goals. 

Get input and buy-in from providers, staff and other business services, like marketing before creating a small implementation team. Designate one project leader who will serve as the main point of contact and provide progress updates. 

Step 3: Consider rules, regulations and reimbursement

Laws, regulations and coverage vary by state so do your homework or rely on telemedicine technology provider to know the facts before you begin offering the service to patients 

Evaluate the provider and the technology for ease of use, security, ease of integration, security, branding, and reimbursement & regulations verification. Keep in mind your provider should partner with you and be available to help your patients and your team with any questions that may come up. 

How to Build Telemedicine into Practice Workflow 

If your practice has been doing things the same way for many years, implementing telemedicine may at first seem to be a big change. There is almost always pushback whenever new technology is brought in and additional training is needed. Telemedicine should not be considered an added burden to manage, but an exciting enhancement to your practice that will likely result in significant ROI, patient satisfaction and better work-life balance. 

Things to Consider when building telemedicine into your workflow: 

Choose a cloud-based solution for the easiest, fastest implementation and integration with your EHR, secure encryption, and built-in features to help you navigate through regulations and reimbursements. While new technology can be daunting, telemedicine uses high speed internet connections and high-definition cameras on devices most everyone in the U.S. already uses. Neither you nor your patients will need to buy special equipment or require training to use the service. 

While no one will need training on how to use the technology, you will need to educate staff and patients about the value of telemedicine, when and how it will be used. Schedule a short training session for staff so they are comfortable marketing it to and answering questions from patients. Offer to download the application on patients’ devices for them if they have it with them at the time of an in-office appointment, then walk them through how to open the application and log in. 

Determine when telemedicine visits will take place during the day and how they will be scheduled. You may want to block off certain hours of the day to conduct video visits, particularly if your practice has a high volume of in-office appointments. Because video visits need to start and end precisely at the scheduled time, it may be more challenging to have them interspersed throughout the day. 

Staffing - Video visits do not necessarily have to be conducted by the primary physician. Just as with on-call rotations, consider alternating days with fellow practitioners in your practice. You can also enlist nurses and physicians assistants to conduct the calls when appropriate. 

Work with technology provider to understand which services are covered by insurance and how much video visits will cost patients. Not every call will need the same amount of time so price sessions in time increments. Alternatively, inform your patients the call will last X minutes and if you need additional time, a follow-up appointment can be scheduled. 

Reimbursement - Reimbursements may vary by state and care given. Make it easy and choose a telemedicine solution with reimbursement expertise and eligibility verification built in so you can save time and get reimbursed faster. 

Choose a video conferencing solution that is HIPAA compliant, is encrypted, leverages peer-to-peer networking, and does not store video transmissions. The provider should also be willing to sign a Business Associate Agreement binding them to HIPAA rules.Your patients may want to better understand their privacy with video visits so consider adding a paragraph to your HIPAA forms explaining how video visits are equally compliant. 

Now that you have the technology and process in place, it’s time to let your patients know about your new service offering. You do not have to spend much money marketing telemedicine and many solution providers will equip you with plenty of materials to promote video visits. The most valuable marketing will come from your staff who interact with patients. Ensure front desk staff, nurses, schedulers and billing understand how and when to talk about telemedicine to patients. 

With incoming patient calls, offer telemedicine as an option, when appropriate 

Inform in-office patients of the option for their next appointment 

Keep brochures and signs suggesting patients inquire about video visits in waiting room and exam rooms 

Inform all patients of the option and “how to” in newsletters, social media, medical bills, etc. 

4 Steps to Educate Patients about Telemedicine 

Most patients will be receptive to telemedicine for its convenience but may need to have a conversation with you or someone on your staff. Don’t assume they understand what telemedicine is or how it works. Instead, take the time to explain it and answer their questions. Keep in mind, many patients will need to be assured the care will be the same and their privacy will be respected. 

“Telemedicine allows us to conduct visits using audio and video over the internet, rather than meeting in person.” 

 “We schedule a video visit like an in-office appointment. You will open a free application designed specifically for this purpose on your smartphone, tablet or computer with internet access and a camera. I will open the application on my end and we will talk to and see each other just as we would in the office. We can discuss symptoms, lab work, prescriptions, follow-up care, treatments and any questions you or I have.” 

“Our patients love this new option because there is no travel or wait times, no need to leave work or schedule childcare, no exposure to sick patients, and it can be done from the privacy and comfort of your home or office. We make sure your insurance company will cover this type of visit before we schedule it.” 

Step 4: Defend it - “If we believe you will be better served at an in-office appointment, we will not suggest a video visit. If we are on a video visit and believe there needs to be an in-office follow up, we will ensure that happens. Studies show most healthcare visits are just as effectively treated using video visits as in-office appointments. Our telemedicine solution is 100% HIPAA compliant so confidentiality is assured, particularly when you use basic online prudence, such as using strong passwords and joining the call in a private area.” 

How to Ensure A Positive Telemedicine Experience 

At the heart of telemedicine is the fact that it does not replace face-to-face doctor-patient interactions, but makes them more accessible. Patients will be able to see practitioners from their computers or devices so it’s important to present a professional, secure environment. Here are a few best practices to ensure your patients feel they are receiving top quality care, even without being in your office. 

Make eye contact with the camera so the patient feels you are looking at them 

Discourage interruptions by suggesting children, pets, televisions or other 

distractions are removed during the call 

 Control your background so the patient sees you in a professional environment 

Have the right technical infrastructure to enable you to have access to their charts, lab work or imaging while you are on the call 

 Eliminate distractions on your end by placing a sign on your door that you cannot be disturbed during your calls 

 Keep hand motions to a minimum as they can be distracting on a video visit 

 Dress appropriately, even if you are working outside of your office or after/before clinic hours 

 Minimize natural light by ensuring you are not sitting in front of a bright window so your patients can easily see you 

 Speak in a normal voice without shouting or talking too quietly, asking patient if they can hear you well before proceeding with the appointment 

 Share tips with patients about how they can follow many of these same steps for the best possible telemedicine experience 

How telemedicine is used in modern practices, tips to get started,  what to look for in a telemedicine technology, how to market to patients, and ensure a positive telehealth experience.

Telemedicine Best Practices: The Steps to Success 

After a patient’s initial diagnostic visit, there is often follow up care that is needed. Typically, this involves a patient scheduling another in-office appointment or waiting for a nurse to call. The problem? 

The average time a person spends in a doctor’s waiting room was 21 minutes 

 It takes 121 minutes each time a person seeks medical care (includes travel time, wait time, paperwork time) 

The average opportunity cost of a medical visit is $43 (the value of lost work and productivity) 

83% of conditions can be resolved by a virtual visit 

Inefficient for practice - skipped appointments = missed revenue 

Medical practices average a 5 to 7% no-show rate 

Two missed co-pays per day can cost a practice nearly $60,000 per year, excluding administrative and payroll expenses lost scheduling and rescheduling appointments 

The current way of managing a practice and its challenges 

Nurses spend hours a day returning calls, contacting patients with lab results and discussing follow-up care and prescriptions. Because in-office appointments are usually considered inconvenient and expensive, patients are increasingly calling the nurse for free medical advice. The problem?

Phone calls to physician practices have increased between 25% and 50% since 2008 

It costs practices $15-$20 per patient call 

Prescription renewal calls cost a practice $10,000 a year 

Telemedicine just might be what the doctor orders when it comes to managing a healthy practice. The small upfront investment promises benefits to patients, physicians, nurses and staff.

You can market the telemedicine option as an accessibility and convenience benefit for essential follow-up care with face-to-face interaction with a physician or nurse:

Offer counseling services and specialist referrals 

For a practice to be profitable and have longevity, it must be reimbursed for as much as possible, as quickly as possible. Telemedicine hits the bottom line in 2 ways: 

Each patient interaction is billable, bringing in an additional source of revenue 

Practice costs are reduced with less administrative work 

On average, a barebones practice would have to bring in $700,000 to $800,000 a year in business to be profitable 

Telehealth visits have the potential to save the healthcare system more than $100 per visit 

For every $1 invested in telehealth, the practice saved more than $3, or $200 per patient each month 

Zapclinica makes telemedicine simple, convenient and profitable - in 6 easy steps 

Enable telemedicine appointment scheduling through integration with existing EHR scheduling system 

Use Zapclinica Automation to automatically check patient telemedicine eligibility in minutes 

Send patients automated email confirmation with link to the video visit 

Doctor/nurse and patient can join video from any location via mobile app or web browser 

Bill patient or patient’s insurance provider for an office visit 

Get reimbursed quickly from private payer insurance and Medicare CCM Program 

Ready to see how Zapclinica can get you paid for telemedicine faster and with less work?   Contact us at contact@zapclinica.com  or visit our website : https://zapclinica.com

How Telemedicine Changes the Way Doctors Do Business 

Physician practices are in the “business” of helping people. Like any company, they need revenue from anywhere they can get it, especially with the current challenges of the U.S. healthcare system.

Convert unpaid patient phone calls into billable telemedicine visits.

Easily add extra appointments in the evenings and on weekends.

Capture Medicare Chronic Care Management (CCM) reimbursement.

Provide surrounding rural population access to your practice

One of the biggest culprits of practices failing to thrive is office inefficiencies. A successful practice must run like a well-oiled machine. Telemedicine optimizes efficiencies so practices can recoup their expenses faster.

Create efficient blocks of back-to-back telemedicine appointments

Eliminate eligibility checking, co-pay collection, and reminder calls

Seamlessly integrate with current EHR and practice management systems

High-quality patient care and positive clinical outcomes are the ultimate goals of any healthcare provider. Unfortunately, accessing this care can be complex and inconsistent for many patients. Crucial follow-ups are missed, and clinical outcomes can suffer.

Easier access = better compliance with treatment plans, particularly for patients with chronic conditions

Face-to-face video visits are more effective than follow-up phone calls, especially when discussing abnormal lab/imaging results

Clinical outcomes are becoming increasingly important in value-based reimbursement

No matter how efficient your practice maybe, you won’t succeed if your patients don’t return. Ensuring each patient feels valued and receives the highest level of care is critical. Video visits enable providers to be highly available, even during off-hours.

Create ultimate flexibility for patients to “visit” the doctor from the comfort of home or office

Reduce exposure to sick patients by avoiding office waiting rooms

Provide easy access for basic medical needs, such as minor urgent care, prescription renewals, follow-up care, and chronic care management

With the explosion of urgent care centers and on-demand telemedicine services offered by employers, more patients are opting to seek medical care outside of the traditional practice setting.  Telemedicine allows practices to remain competitive and reduce patient attrition by enabling them to provide convenient, cost-effective care to their patients.

Allow Zapclnica Telemedicine to power your practice. 

The essential steps to successfully implement telemedicine may seem daunting, but Zapclinca will partner with you to make it a seamless process customized to the specific needs of your practice. 

To get started for free in under 2 mins, visit Zapclinica's website at https://www.zapclinica.com

Contact Zapclinca at contact@zapclinica for a question, or a demo personalized for your practice and see how simple telemedicine can be.  

Running a medical practice isn’t easy. To be profitable and successful, you have to be efficient while providing the best inpatient care. Luckily, technology is bringing convenience to you and your patients as well.

Top 5 reasons your office should be offering Telemedicine

What do you need your technology to do? 

Integrations with existing scheduling applications, such as EHR and PM 

Software that mimics the in-office experience, such as virtual waiting rooms with patients entering call prior to doctor joining 

Simple and fast reimbursements guaranteed 

As with any business venture, set specific goals with measurement and timelines. Here are some examples of common goals: 

Telemedicine platform will be implemented by certain date 

Staff will be trained on platform by certain date 

Marketing materials will be displayed and mailed on certain date 

Set a minimum number of 15-minute calls/week 

Any staff member who will interact with patients and/or the telemedicine solution should be well-trained and understand when, how and who will use the software. 

Choose a staff lead for project implementation, training, marketing and ongoing patient education 

Define staff roles and train by role: 
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Not all clinical evaluations and diagnoses lend themselves to telemedicine, but many do. Depending on your specialty and practice, define the following: 

Which patients are best suited for telemedicine? 

Which medical conditions are best suited for telemedicine? 

 Which appointment types are best suited for telemedicine? 

Which telemedicine appointments will get reimbursed? 

Telemedicine often works best when practices block off certain days and/or times of day to dedicate to telemedicine appointments.

Here’s how many practices choose to schedule telemedicine appointments: 

From 4:00-6:00 pm, after the clinic closes 

During times office staff are not in the office or catching up on paperwork 

The key to making telemedicine work is to ensure your patients understand what it is, its benefits and how they can sign up.

 “Will I get the same quality of care?”

 “Will my insurance pay for a telemedicine visit?”

“What technology would I have to get and can I just download an app?” 

Here are some marketing ideas to get them on board: 

Ensure all nurses and doctors mention the service every time they interact with patient and offer a quick demo if possible 

 Display brochures in waiting room and patient rooms, insert them in any mailings and with invoices 

Include detailed information in mass emails and newsletters 

 Invite patients to call office “experts” with questions 

The #1 question practitioners want to know when it comes to telemedicine is, “will I get paid?” When evaluating telemedicine software, be sure you fully understand how reimbursement works. Look for: 

Software with built-in eligibility verification 

 A telemedicine provider with a dedicated team to quickly resolve claim denials 

A telemedicine provider willing to reimburse any claims it verified as eligible 

The essential steps to successfully  implement telemedicine  may seem daunting, but Zapclinca will partner with you to make it a seam- less process customized to the specific needs of your practice. 

Let our experts customize a plan for you that considers your telemedicine goals and timelines, and provide a detailed roadmap for training, clinical protocols, marketing, and reimbursement services. 

Contact Zapclinca  at contact@zapclinica for a demo personalized for your practice and see how simple telemedicine can be.  

This quick guide defines seven necessary steps to easily select and build telemedicine software into your existing practice workflow.

Seven Steps to start offering Telemedicine into Your Practice Workflow

Once you've invested in a telemedicine solution, you may wonder how best to introduce it to your patients. Change is usually accepted one of three ways: readily, slowly or not at all. Chances are, you will have patients who will fit into each of these categories, yet there are specific steps you can take to increase the likelihood more patients will jump on board. 

Studies consistently prove the majority of consumers would use telemedicine if it was offered, 74 percent of them, in fact. Convenience is a driving factor, clearly evidenced in the rise of urgent care facilities. While fewer than one-third of primary care practices offer after-hours care, 85 percent of urgent care facilities are open 7 days a week and 95 percent close after 7:00 P.M. 

The truth is, most patients want to see a practitioner when they have the time, not the other way around. When asked why families decided to go to a retail clinic over their family doctor, 62 percent said it was because it was more convenient to see an available practitioner. 

By implementing telemedicine in your practice, you are dramatically increasing your availability and improving customer convenience. Even your most skeptical patients have much to gain by using telemedicine so let's get started with the best practices in engaging them. 

While telemedicine may sound complicated to some of your patients, you can put a plan in motion to make it as simple as possible. The more you do on the back end, the smoother the front end will go. Don't worry, we have your back. Follow these 3 steps and you'll have telemedicine an integral part of your practice in no time.

Step 1: Categorize Appointments and Patients 

Many appointments are ideal for telemedicine, but not all are a perfect fit. Survey your typical appointments and phone calls to your practice to identify themes. How many of your appointments are: 

Calls to your nurses or other staff to discuss lab/imaging results? 

You can create "buckets" that will make it easy to label "telemedicine-ready" or "in-office appointments only." To the right are common examples of which appointments are appropriate for video visits and which ones would be better suited for in-office appointments. Specific use case can vary by practice. You can decide when to use or not use telemedicine. 

You will also need to identify which patients are good candidates for telemedicine. Nowadays, most people have the technology needed for a video visit, however it is a good idea to ask. Even those with what is considered "telemedicine-ready" issues may not be ready or willing to use telemedicine. Discuss it on a patient-by-patient basis, but here are a few things to consider: 

Does the patient have convenient internet access? 

Does the patient use a smartphone, tablet, laptop or computer with a camera? 

Is the patient willing to invest in a device with a camera or install one on their computer? 

Does the patient have the ability to participate in a video visit at their work or do their off-hours coincide with the times your practice offers video visits? 

Step 2: Build Telemedicine Appointments into Workflow 

Now that you know which appointments and patients can best utilize telemedicine, it's time to train your front desk staff to schedule them. When a patient calls to schedule an appointment, the scheduler will know which category that appointment falls. If it is "telemedicine-ready," it's showtime. Let's review a few tips and phrases staff can use when educating patients on telemedicine:

We have a much more convenient way for you to see the doctor sooner. We use telemedicine for these types of appointments so you can see and talk to the doctor from the comfort of your home or office.

You can also ensure telemedicine is briefly discussed during office visits and at checkout. 

Your follow-up appointment won't require you to take time to travel to our office. We now offer convenient telemedicine appointments where you can still see and speak with a practitioner but from the comfort of your home or office.

We schedule most lab and imaging results using telemedicine, so you don't have to call and leave a message for a nurse to return your call. This way, you can schedule an exact time, and the practitioner can show you your lab results and discuss treatment options if necessary.

 Your patients will likely ask you how telemedicine appointments work. Here is when you will learn whether or not they, as patients, are good candidates. Expect some resistance from a few patients and be ready with further explanation of the benefits to them. 

 All you need is a smartphone or tablet or a laptop or computer with a camera. You just download a free app and you will get a reminder email with your scheduled appointment time and link to join. Click on the link and, you'll automatically be taken into the app where the doctor will join you. It's similar to FaceTime, where you can see and talk face-to-face." 

We would be happy to help you download the app and walk you through the process to see how simple it is. We can promise it is much easier and faster than coming into the office."

Still want more proof of the benefits of telemedicine you can share with your patients? 

Here's a quick cheat sheet of all of the most common reasons why patients love telemedicine: 

No need to travel to and from the doctor's office 

More flexible appointment times, including nights and weekends 

No travel time or waiting room time. Telemedicine appointments require significantly less patient time 

Studies show telemedicine appointments have the same patient outcomes as in-office appointments in almost all cases

Most insurance covers telemedicine appointments 

Telemedicine appointments can be easily scheduled throughout a typical workday, as well as after hours and weekends. Similar to on-call scheduling, many offices choose to schedule doctors, nurses, and other practitioners at different times during the day and week for the broadest coverage and the most flexibility. 

Block scheduling can be used to set aside specific hours of the day where practitioners will dedicate to telemedicine appointments. Before clinic hours, during lunch when the office is typically closed, after hours, evenings and weekends not only offer patients the ability to schedule the appointment around their work schedules but also give the practitioners incremental income when they typically are not earning revenue. 

Any patient-facing staff member has the best opportunity to taut telemedicine, but there are also other ideal ways to get your message across to patients. 

It is a good idea to have telemedicine brochures in the waiting room and even attach them to the clipboard patients receive after signing in to the front desk. Utilize the waiting time to have them read about the benefits of telemedicine and how to download the app. 

When your billing department sends patients invoices, why not include an insert or brochure about telemedicine? Unlike marketing mail, consumers generally open and read bills. 

You can also hang posters in the exam rooms where patients can read about telemedicine while waiting for the practitioner. It would be a perfect time for the practitioner to answer any patient questions or refer to the poster when discussing telemedicine for follow-up appointments. 

If your practice sends emails to patients, either with billing information, appointment reminders, or newsletters, you can include information about telemedicine front and center. 

If you have an office website, you can place information about telemedicine on the homepage, as well as on the "book an appointment" page and blog page, if you have them. Because increasingly more patients are looking for providers who offer telemedicine, online searches can be an easy way for them to find you. 

If your practice uses social media to interact with patients, be sure to post about the benefits of telemedicine regularly. 

 If you have patients who have good things to say about your telemedicine option, it never hurts to ask them if they'd be willing to lend a quote you can add to your emails, newsletters, social media posts and/or website. Consumers generally value the opinions of others, and getting others to market telemedicine for you is an inexpensive yet highly valuable marketing tactic. 

When considering telemedicine software providers, ask your salesperson if their company offers brochures, posters and other marketing materials as part of their package. It will save you countless hours and significant dollars to have these in hand rather than creating them from scratch. Who better to explain the benefits and instructions for downloading than the vendor? 

Zapclinica  is a leader in telemedicine software and deployment. Contact our experts to learn how to secure video visits with full reimbursement implemented into your practice. We have everything you need to educate your patients on the benefits of telemedicine so you can start booking appointments faster than you may think. 

Visit our website : https://zapclinica.com or contact us at : contact@zapclinica.com

In order to be profitable in today’s healthcare environment practice need to see as many patients as possible. Telemedicine is the most cost-effective and easiest way to increase appointment volume.

How do you drive patient appointment volume? 

Find the resources you need

Guides

Telemedicine Best Practices: The Steps to Success

How Telemedicine Changes the Way Doctors Do Business

Top 5 reasons your office should be offering Telemedicine

Seven Steps to start offering Telemedicine into Your Practice Workflow

How do you drive patient appointment volume?

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