Telehealth is changing the way patients receive care that was, at one-time, only available in the office. Telehealth software makes it possible for chiropractors to provide flexible care for their patients from home-improving patient outcomes, retention, and overall patient experience.
While a patient meets with you comfortably from their home, you can check in on their progress, address issues or challenges, and aid with exercise and other recommendations.
With a Telehealth program at your practice, you can meet with your patients in real-time while maintaining HIPAA compliance and providing services over a high-quality video stream. The patient can be comfortable at home and doesn't need to make a trip to your office. Missed and canceled appointments are a productivity killer, so the flexibility of Telehealth appointments means your patients are less likely to cancel, decreasing the "no shows" on your schedule. This improves your scheduling capacity and maximizes your revenue.
Right now, many patients desire care that is comfortable and convenient-Telehealth allows for both. By offering these services and marketing them locally, you can anticipate a potential uptick in new patients and patient re-activations.
While telehealth is not intended to replace chiropractic care in a clinical setting, it is useful for many people. It makes your practice more flexible to meet the demand for this type of service. Telemedicine is becoming a service that more and more patients expect – so get on board to stay on the cutting edge.
Getting started with telehealth is easy. In this section, we'll break down what you need to know before you can start offering telehealth sessions in your private practice.
3 Steps to Getting Started with Telehealth
Getting started with Telehealth is easy. In this section, we'll break down what you need to know before you can start offering Telehealth sessions in your private practice.
3 Steps to Getting Started with Telehealth
• What technology to use
• What services to provide
• What promotions work
1. What Technology to Use
Telehealth Software Requirements
The most important thing you need when you start offering online care is a HIPAA compliant video conferencing system. Skype and FaceTime are not suitable long-term options.
Did you know, it’s illegal to send patients text messages about anything other than appointment reminders, without their documented consent?
Don’t worry, Rhinogram makes it super simple for people to communicate with your practice 24/7 via SMS text message and Facebook Messenger without the risk of violating HIPAA or other federal compliance laws.
In today’s day and age, offering the ability to communicate with your practice via asynchronous communication technology has many benefits for your patients and your practice. Eliminate the back and forth calling required when leaving voice messages. Eliminate the patient frustration of being on hold during prime time hours. Eliminate the risk of being non-compliant.
Simply add the right technology to your practice for the most efficient communication experience possible.
We recommend Rhinogram as our recommended HIPAA-compliant asynchronous communications platform. It’s by far the best thing we’ve seen on the market.
Instead, we recommend Doxy, which provides an easy to use, HIPAA compliant solution. As a bonus- the basic version is also free!
Telehealth Technology Checklist
To provide telehealth services, we recommend you have the following pieces of equipment:
• Computer, phone or tablet with a speaker, microphone, and camera.
• External microphone (if your device does not have one built in).
• External camera (if your device does not have a high-quality one built-in). • Headphones (if your device does not have high-quality speakers).
Additionally, you need to make sure you have a high speed internet connection. Use Google's speed test to test your internet speed. If your download or upload speed is below 3 Mbps, you should look into upgrading your internet connection. Additionally, before your begin your appointment it's a good idea to close all other browsers and applications to ensure a better connection.
Office Space
Another critical part of your Telehealth session is your office space. You must have a designated, secure space for your online appointments.
Here are a few things to keep in mind before you start your appointment:
Privacy: Select a space for your appointments that is private. Privacy laws still apply and you want to make sure that no one else can hear the conversation between you and your patient.
Noise Level: Ensure that there are no distracting noises during your appointment. This includes doorbells, televisions, lawnmowers, etc.
Visual Distractions: Your background shouldn't be too busy. We recommend having a plain colored wall, so it does not distract your patient.
Lighting: Try to maintain a consistent light throughout your appointment. Don't have a window behind you because your face will have a shadow. Make sure your face is lit well and in the middle of the camera frame. We recommend using a ring light or ensuring you have good natural light in your space. Try to keep curtains closed if a window is behind you; it will help your lighting and add privacy. Check out this lighting guide for more details.
Attire: Keep your dress professional, even if you're not leaving your house. Consider wearing you normal practice attire.
Eye Contact: Maintaining eye contact during your appointment is important. You want your clients to feel as if they have your full attention. Avoid doing other work, looking at different screens, or taking notes for long periods.
Pre-Session Prep
• Prepare for the appointment: It's a good idea to test out your Telehealth platform before your first appointment. Send a practice link to a friend or staff member so that you can experience the process without stress. You can make sure everything is work- ing correctly and lets you catch any problems before your actual appointment.
• Prepare your patient: Let your patient know what to expect. If they need any additional software, let them know in advance.
• Consent documents: If consent is required in your state, get it before your appointment begins.
• Find your state law by checking this website-CCHPCA here. Find your state on the interactive map and scroll down to consent.
• You can download additional samples of informed consent documents here: • American Telemedicine Association.
• Emergency services: Thankfully, we see very few emergencies, but be prepared. Since you are meeting them at a distance, it's essential for you and the patient to know where they can access emergency services, just in case.
Understanding Telehealth Billing
Telehealth billing and reimbursement, like all medical billing, is a confusing and constantly evolving topic. Constantly changing state regulations make it challenging to stay up to date. Many states now have enacted parity laws that require insurance payers to reimburse telemedicine visits just like in-person visits.
Learn more about specific reimbursement policies and what you should expect in terms of reimbursement using this resource:
• CCHPCA State Laws and Reimbursement Policies.
• American Telemed's State Policy Resource Center and State Toolkits.
Even after learning about your state reimbursement policies, you should always call and check with the insurance company before submitting claims. Most insurance companies have specific requirements when it comes to accepting Tele- health claims. Knowing payer-specific policy helps ensure you get paid promptly for the services you provide.
2. What chiropractic telehealth services to provide:
How do you choose which service(s) to offer via Telehealth?
We recommend that you discover the intersection of:
What expertise do I like to share the most?
What services do at-home clients need most?
What services do at-home clients value most?
Ideas to Consider:
1. Organic Pain Relief Solutions for people at-home. What would you tell a family member who is experiencing pain but is physically unable to make it into your practice?
2. Check-up and Check-in ongoing accountability services for people at-home What would you say to a family member who is at-home and needs someone to
check-in on them to ensure they are staying calm and healthy during this time?
3. Special expertise: Ergonomics, Exercise, Yoga, Nutrition, Stress Management, Sleep coaching, Life coaching and more. People need your expertise and guidance during this time.
Did you know we recently partnered with WebExercises to offer every The Smart Chiropractor Members FREE account!
For example: There are likely more home offices being set up now than any time in his- tory. What do you know that can help people set up a healthy home office?
People need to stay fit with a new at-home stretching and exercise routine. What do you know that can help them?
• People need to know how to stay calm.
• People need to know how to eat well while at-home.
• People need to discover how to cope with this new level of stress.
• People need to know how to get a good night sleep.
• People need to understand how to navigate their new life and career.
The point is that you know a lot of stuff that can help a lot of people.
In the event you cannot physically provide services, what can you do to be of service to people who could benefit from working with and would be willing to pay you for your Telehealth services?
Promoting & Marketing Telehealth in Your Chiropractic Practice
You are now ready to start offering Telehealth appointments, but how do you get patients on your schedule ASAP?
Once you decide to begin Telehealth, you have to promote your services. Your patients won't know they can see you via video-conferencing until you let them know this service is now available.
Promote your new Telehealth service via your email list, website, newsletter, on all printed practice materials, and on your social media pages. Simply adding a line such as "Now offering Telehealth." can go a long way in getting you, new Telehealth patients.
Here is Your Social Plan for Telehealth. Post your announcements of Telehealth by:
Posting daily social graphics on Facebook and Instagram
Sending an automate email series to your email list
Posting promotional videos 3x week on Facebook
Institute a text scripts to text your list (with consent)
Begin calling your patients in reverse chronological order
Teach and Invite daily on Facebook and/or Instagram
Offering Telehealth services also serves as a way to differentiate yourself from other health professionals, which can help you attract even more patients to your practice. When advertising, make sure to focus on the convenience and benefits, Telehealth can offer patients.
If you’re serious about offering telehealth (or serious about growing your practice) then check out The Smart Chiropractor. It will market your practice with a click of a button. Built on content you can trust- it has automated emails, text scripts, promotional videos, automated social graphics, call scripts, video scripts, and more to help you get telehealth appointments booked NOW!
Conclusion:
Chiropractors have been teaching the concept that being healthy is a byproduct of our ability to adapt to our environment. Well, it's time to practice what we preach.
Those chiropractors who reach out for help and successfully make this transition will thrive as a result of how they choose to handle these circumstances.
In months and years from now, the health care professionals who invest the time and effort to rise to the challenge of adapting their practices to this new environment will thrive.
By focusing your efforts on the principles we're sharing in this guide to "teach & invite, consistently" will be the practices that grow now and in the future.
Dr. Loniewski posted one of our The Smart Chiropractor video promotions and immediately received 3 appointments without an ad spend!