Providing medical care through virtual platforms has become common in the past couple of years, especially due to the pandemic. Healthcare providers value the safety of their patients and are therefore willing to take up telehealth services more often. Telehealth does come with challenges of its own. However, the benefits it provides are invaluable.

It’s important to follow specific guidelines and procedures when providing telehealth services, to ensure that patients get the best possible care. Read on to learn telehealth tips for healthcare professionals to make life better for their patients.

Tips for successful telehealth consultations

Telehealth consultations provide many advantages such as convenience, effectiveness, etc[M1] . However, these benefits are only possible if the service maintains its quality. Therefore, each country’s healthcare service body sets out guidelines for providing telehealth services.

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), the Royal Australian College of General Physicians (RACGP), and the Australian Heath Practitioner Regulation Authority (AHPRA) have provided the following guidelines and tips with regard to telehealth consultations:

Health professionals need to focus on the following:

·        Distinguish between new and existing patients

When you have dealt with a patient before, you already have an idea of his health condition. Taking it on through telehealth services is manageable for such patients. For new patients, it’s better to do a physical consultation initially, if possible, and then move on to virtual level.

·        Make it personal

The doctor-patient relationship is important in telehealth services just as much as it does in physical consultations. Therefore work towards building a healthy relationship with your patient.

·        Be professional

As a healthcare professional, you need to manage your professionalism during consultations. You should not deviate from this perspective even if it is a remote service that you are providing.

·        Make it easy on patients

Let your patient feel relaxed during consultation. Talk to him in a way that he does not feel that you are miles away. The consultation should continue just as if there is only a desk between you and your patient.

·        Maintaining privacy and confidentiality

Maintaining privacy and confidentiality is more so important when providing telehealth services. Healthcare facilities should ensure information security from their perspective. As a medical professional, you also need to ensure that whatever is exchanged during the remote session is only between you and your patient.

·        Develop your web-side manner

Appropriate web-side manner is crucial for conducting successful telehealth sessions. Be mindful of the background you have during the session. It should not be distracting to the patient. It is better to choose a quitter place with no distractions.

·        Call on methods to examine patients virtually

Certain conditions may require you to meet the patient physically. However, you can easily conduct virtual examinations to identify many health conditions. Simple movements of various parts of the body might give you an idea of how to proceed with the patient.

·        Acknowledge when telehealth is not advisable

Sometimes, remote consultation might not be effective in identifying patient conditions or providing adequate treatment procedures. If it is the case, you need to meet the consult the patient physically.

A medical practice also needs to pay attention to several factors in order to make telehealth services a success. Here are a few things to pay attention to:

·        Give consideration to patient safety, clinical need, clinical effectiveness, and patient preference.

·        Ensure adequate facilities to provide quality telehealth service exist. These include consultation space, hardware and software, offsite telehealth support and troubleshooting, etc.

·        Select patients for telehealth based on available technology, resources, and urgency of medical care.

·        Informing the patient if he is routed to a telehealth service.

·        Seek patient consent for telehealth service.

Telehealth trends and growth

The future of telehealth remains positive. Even as we move on from the pandemic, remote consultations will be the norm because of the many benefits they provide. They are cost-effective and save time both from the health professional’s perspective and the patient’s point of view.

According to the Department of Health, Australia, over 300 million telehealth services were delivered to approximately 17 million Australians across the country, between 2020 and 2022. Over 92,000 medical practitioners have used telehealth services for patient consultations with over $5 billion paid in Medicare benefits.

Telehealth services are expected to grow much more in future with more patients moving towards it. Here are the key trends that drive telehealth growth:

·        Increased patient utilization.

·        Increased chronic care management.

·        Improved user experience.

·        More focus on mental health.

·        Integrated data sharing.

·        Convenient virtual paediatric care.

·        Investments in technology.

·        Telehealth expansions into new specialties.

·        Extended time for consultations.

·        Addresses certain provider shortages.

Sectors that use telehealth

Not every specialty in the healthcare sector can benefit from telehealth services. However, several areas can provide great telehealth services to patients, such as the following:

·        General consultation

·        Diagnosis

·        Neuropsychology

·        Mental health

·        Rehabilitation

However, in future, there can be additions to this list, especially with the growth in trends for telehealth services. It will enable every patient easy access to a wide range of healthcare consultations and remote facilities.

Telehealth vacancies

Common telehealth vacancies include the following:

·        Psychotherapist

·        Registered Nurse

·        Therapist

·        Clinical Social Worker

·        Nursing Assistant

·        Counsellor

·        Behavioural Therapist

·        Technology Coordinator

·        Mental Health Clinician

·        Telehealth Coordinator

·        Telehealth Data Specialist

Remuneration

Telehealth healthcare professionals do get paid a competitive salary. For example, a telehealth General Practitioner (GP) in Australia is paid an average salary of AUD 127,643 per year or AUD 155 to 175 per hour. The average bonus is AUD 2,365. The average salary range is between AUD 118,376 and AUD 221,768, depending on skills level and experience.

A telehealth nurse in Australia is paid an average salary of AUD 114,444 per year or AUD 55 per hour. The average bonus is AUD 1,877. The average salary range is between AUD 79,768 and AUD 139,279, depending on skills level and experience.

This shows that telehealth consultations do provide monetary benefits to medical professionals. Healthcare services are also constantly improving the quality of telehealth services to provide the best possible outcome for both patients and medical professionals.

Conclusion

Telehealth consultations are the norm at present and will continue to be done for the years to come. There are so many benefits it provides for healthcare professionals and patients. It has become a worldwide trend that the majority of patients and healthcare providers opt for.

During the pandemic, telehealth consultations were a lifesaver, and it still seems to be the preferred method in use. However, physical consultations still do have their place due to it being the conventional method in use for a long time.

At Medfuture, we work with a range of healthcare providers, many of whom provide telehealth consultations to its patient base. We provide a range of healthcare vacancies including doctors, nurses, allied health staff, and healthcare executives.

Visit our website for a list of the latest job vacancies to find out which one suits you the best.

Here are a few related articles to read:

Demand for Telehealth & Virtual Consultations Skyrocket in the Wake of Covid-19

Telehealth to Strengthen Australian Healthcare