9 Reasons Telehealth Will Improve Your Practice
We sat down with Andrew Livingston, Founder of Doxy, a telemedicine platform to talk about telemedicine, the changing the face of healthcare and, more importantly, how it can improve your practice. We asked him what the benefits of telemedicine are for a practice. Here’s what he had to say. “We have seen many ways a telehealth platform has helped practices across America.” Overall “it’s a personal decision, and it’s about the doctor-patient relationship.” He continued, “It’s not here to replace in-person, it’s here to augment the in-person – to ease the system.” Our conversation led to these 9 ways telehealth can improve your practice.
1. It allows you to extend your practice outside your physical reach.
You can serve a broader geography. This allows you to follow-up with patients when they are out of town. This benefit extends to your ability to work remotely also.
2. Telehealth means more flexibility for scheduling.
Scheduling is tough both for the practice and the patient. When a patient has open time enough for a consultation but not a trip in, don’t let wasted time fill your calendar when a telehealth option would work for the both of you. These billable open hours are costing you every month.
3. It helps improve with no-shows.
If you can convert some of the more difficult or tightly scheduled meetings on telehealth, you’ll see a higher average of attendance and watch your down time decrease as patients are more able to meet with you.
4. Telehealth can mean more time with patients.
In some specialties, an online portal takes away a lot of ancillary time that can be redirected to face to face time.
5. Another line of revenue.
This is where billers should be helping you. They know the modifiers, opportunity, contract prices and can help establish this line of revenue. It allows you reach people you haven’t historically reached. This can help you grow your practice, influence, and bottom line.
6. Your patients have a broader choice in healthcare.
They are no longer bound by which doctor choose to set up shop within 30 miles of home. They can choose people they have service with already if they move, or engage with you based on online ratings. Telehealth reimbursement is different, and can allow for interesting options.
7. Telehealth is solving major network gaps in rural America.
Even in “one-bar-of-wifi” kind of towns, the internet can bring professional services unavailable into the homes of those in need. A practice should not underestimate the need in rural America, nor the need of insurance companies in need of providers to reach those people.
8. It offers family solutions.
For adults, it offers the ease of anywhere service and scheduling. For kids, it helps some with white coat syndrome and allows the comfort of treatment at home, on an iPad, or their home computer.
9. Finally, for your practice, it means lower overhead per visit.
There is not much you can do to lower your overhead in this industry. This decreases the effort of staff to do sign in, filing documents in paper, duplicating forms, and having enough space for a larger waiting room – among other benefits.
It’s hard to quantify the benefits in a closing paragraph. Needless to say, there is a lot a telehealth platform can offer your practice, your patients, and your pocketbook. Keep your eye out for the next blogs in this 3-series on telehealth with Andrew Livingston from Doxy.
If you’re interested in understanding how this can impact your practice, how to implement a platform, or what considerations to take before starting, contact us here at Red House and we’ll be happy to help.
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BIO
Andrew is currently Founder of doxy.me telemedicine, a global organization that makes it easier and more affordable for healthcare providers to care for their patients anywhere, including rural and underserved areas. Doxy.me created a free telemedicine solution that works on a smartphone, tablet, or computer. He believe’s everyone should have access to care through telemedicine.