Telehealth is booming like never before, which is excellent news for a variety of people. Whether you prefer the ease of a virtual visit, have mobility issues, or need to touch base briefly with your doctor, telehealth is a great alternative to in-office appointments.
One of the most significant benefits of increased access to telehealth is that more specialists are using the virtual visit model as well. People with physical therapy regimens can meet their therapist a few times in person and then connect remotely to do their exercises in the comfort of their living room. Additionally, those with a chronic condition and need to check in for pain management don't need to travel when their specialist is accessible by a web interface.
We've put together a list of five specialties working in telehealth and how you can take your practice to the virtual space with the help of ViTel.
1. Fertility Doctors
Checking in on your patients shouldn't require you to meet face-to-face every time. You need to know how they're feeling, and they need to report any changes to you and any progress or setbacks, but does that require an in-office visit?
Remote visits allow you to assess patients' mental health and ovulation to ensure optimal effort and progress. If you're interested in how telehealth and fertility meet, Aly Bond, CEO of NuVision, recently presented on this topic, and you can access it here. Aly goes through the strengths of virtual interfacing and how it can make your patients feel more comfortable and hopeful about treatment.
2. Sports medicine
Imagine if you could interface with your teams even while they're away, all with a few clicks and a webcam. The benefits of virtual sports medicine are significant, with studies indicating that sports telehealth reduces unnecessary ER visits by as much as 6% — that's a lot of saved money and time.
Your patients depend on your expertise for nutrition, training direction, and support when chronic injuries flare up. If patients forget the advice you give them on sports injuries — virtual visits allow you to remind them of their diagnosis and the steps they need to follow to recover fully.
Additionally, as with all telehealth practices, setting up virtually allows you to have your patients see other providers when necessary — radiology, pharmaceutical, and other referrals are far more manageable when you're connected to a telehealth platform network.
3. Telepharmacy
One amazing benefit of telehealth in the medical space is that getting prescriptions ordered, filled, and changed has never been easier. Virtual requests for prescriptions are faster, less likely to result in errors, and can easily be amended or moved.
While patients may still prefer to see their pharmacists in person for questions and directions, the freedom of virtual visits and remote fills are hugely successful. Telehealth makes the refill and reorder process far easier. It gives patients a quick and easy way to access information about their medications, from potential interactions to how-to demonstrations on EpiPens or insulin.
Finally, with some easing of restrictions during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare interfaces beautifully with telehealth in some surprising ways. These range from removing the restrictions on refills to getting rid of prior authorization requests. Ultimately, it all adds up to a better, more streamlined experience for you and your patients.
4. Physical Therapy
Few professions deal with mobility issues among clients quite as much as physical therapists. When your primary goals are to increase mobility and reduce pain, one big hurdle is getting your patients into the office. Virtual visits help reduce that problem by allowing patients to complete their therapy without leaving their homes.
While it's true that not every patient will have the specialized equipment needed for certain types of therapy, some workarounds are more beneficial than the patient simply skipping the appointment because of pain or transportation difficulties.
Physical therapy is one of the specialties that benefit the most from virtually interfacing with their patients and should be a sincere consideration for your practice.
5. Urgent Care
Nobody wants to go to the ER if they don't have to, but often that's the only choice for many people for sub-emergent issues. Having the ability to talk with a doctor or telenurse to get a diagnosis and prescription for something like a sinus infection or gastrointestinal virus saves time and money. It also helps people stay away from others in public when they're contagious, a fact that we should all love.
Virtual urgent care is a wonderful specialty that will only get more popular in this peri-pandemic world.
Telehealth is the future, and specialists are jumping on board every day.
If you've got a specialty you'd like to bring into the exciting and efficient world of telehealth, ViTel can help you make that transition. Whether you're already working in a brick-and-mortar space or you intend to be fully online, there's a space for you in virtual medicine. Every day, more doctors discover the difference ViTel telehealth can make in their and their patients' lives.
From diagnosis to chronic care management and patient communication, telehealth jobs are constantly breaking new ground in medical technology and patient satisfaction.
Contact us today for a free demo and see the difference telehealth can make for your practice and how ViTel can administer a vibrant virtual platform for you.
