The adoption of virtual or online consultations has increased massively in recent years. Patients had to wait for hours in a queue before their numbers were called; however, now that they have the convenience of booking an appointment online and seeing the doctor virtually, their chances of getting timely care and preventing dire health-related consequences have decreased quite significantly.
In this regard, virtual care platforms, such as Tebra and ModMed, or audio-only sessions through Doxy.me play important roles. Professionals can easily examine patients and understand their condition while also suggesting a personalized care plan.
This article takes a closer look at how online consultations support better follow-up care.
Why follow-up care matters after the consultation
Take the first appointment as just the beginning of a patient’s treatment – this is specifically for patients who might be diagnosed with diabetes or have issues with mobility. For a practitioner, there is still a lot to consider once the patient leaves the clinic.
You cannot prescribe the same medication to the patients who are dealing with the same issues. One might start showing side effects while the other may show some improvement. What’s more, the symptoms might take longer to improve than expected.
You might even come across cases where the treatment plan needs to be changed entirely for it to work properly. This is why doctors have to know fully about the developments before they finally make a decision about what should happen next.
Hence, the need for a follow-up.
Such appointments offer a chance to understand if and how the patients are responding to the treatment. At the same time, it also helps the doctors address concerns before they schedule the next visit.
Nonetheless, we cannot argue about the fact that patients may delay these follow-ups or could live far away from the clinic. This is where online consultations come in.
What actually happens when the appointment moves online
It is already established that a virtual appointment removes the journey from the entire equation. Let’s say, one of your patients lives an hour away. Now, this alone can decide whether or not the review is going to happen.
Plus, it can change what your clinicians can see.
More often than we might realize, patients don’t completely give accurate responses while visiting in person. One of the reasons could be that they lost track of all the medicines they are taking.
But in this case, they can simply hold up their medicine bottles to the camera. Now, you have a complete idea of what they’re actually taking. This also includes the medicines they forgot to mention when they visited you in the beginning. Someone might even feel more comfortable showing you their inhaler technique right from their living room. A patient who was recently discharged may show you how they manage to climb stairs in their own house.
This is the kind of context you don’t usually get in a clinic room.
However, let’s draw a clear line between two things here – when it comes to operational use, easier attendance may come up as a win. What we also need to think about is the health outcome.
Inarguably so, remote visits work well for easy conversations and going over readings and treatment plans.
But the real challenge comes when the actual examination has to take place.
Medication queries don’t always wait for the appointment
The truth is, patients want to know numerous things about a certain medication they have been put on. They are curious about the side effects. They might even become a bit sceptical about its results. Some may even come to you with questions about whether they should take it in the AM or PM.
Such questions usually come up during the first couple of weeks of treatment.
Scheduling an online follow-up consultation gives them the room to come forward with all these questions. Some practices also make these virtual follow-ups part of their plan from the very beginning.
This won’t replace monitoring that requires blood tests. But at the same time, it can help understand if the patient stopped taking medicines, changed the dose themselves, or if they are experiencing any side effects.
Chronic care benefits more from regular contact
Think about your patient who recently came to you with high blood pressure, asthma, or mental health needs. They don’t just need one consultation. They need several.
Much of those follow-ups involve conversations and data points. You have to understand what their blood pressure reading has been lately, if they are keeping a diary of recent symptoms, or how the stress of daily routine has been affecting them.
Online consultations fit this kind of care well. Plus, patients find these brief and frequent check-ins easier to keep up with and less overwhelming. If appointments are booked with months-long gaps, they may even forget so many essential details.
Home readings also help a lot. A week of readings taken at home tells you more than what was perhaps noticed once in the clinic.
Continuity is where many providers could go wrong
The truth is, convenience doesn’t count much if the clinician on the call is not fully aware of the patient and their history.
In its entirety, a follow-up happens when the practitioner can see the patient’s history, previous results, the current medications, and the reasoning behind the plan.
If you’re adding virtual visits, look closely at how they connect to the rest of your systems.
It’s worth asking:
- Does the platform connect to the electronic health records platform installed at the clinic, or will the staff have to re-enter the notes by hand?
- Is it easier for the patients to use the same system to schedule follow-up appointments as the one they used for in-person visits?
- Does it meet the privacy and data rules that apply where you operate?
Practices that do this well don’t see online and in-person visits as competitors. They plan for both from the first appointment. They come prepared with the right set of tools to make these appointments easier and more convenient while also taking into account the unique needs of each patient.
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