Telemedicine is an extremely effective tool for non-emergency medical care. It can be used across almost every field in medicine — our top use cases fall under multiple categories, from primary care to post-surgical management. You'll be optimizing your provider's time, and making things more convenient for patients by utilizing a virtual care platform for a multitude of conditions.
Cold or Cough
Most colds don’t require a trip to the doctor’s office. They are viral and unless there are concomitant issues going on, there is no reason for a patient to come to an office and potentially infect others. Use virtual care when a patient has mild symptoms like a cough or runny nose to avoid spreading germs. Providers can ask some basic screening questions to determine if the patient has a more severe condition, like influenza or pneumonia, or to rule out environmental stressors like allergens.
Hypertension
With remote monitoring technology becoming more advanced each day virtual care has the ability to be the main delivery system with patients who face blood pressure challenges. It’s more convenient than regular visits for your chronic patients. Even if their in-home sphygmomanometer isn't one that has an interface with your virtual care platform, a nurse or other provider can occasionally monitor the use and functionality of the cuff in a virtual visit, check technique, ask key questions and discuss symptoms. Keeping a patient's blood pressure normal is hard work for them. Why add on the additional stress of traveling to an office, parking and traveling home for a quick blood pressure check and follow-up?
Sore Throat
This is a strong use case for pediatric and urgent care providers. Offer virtual care visits for parents and patients who may not have time to get themselves, or their children, into the office on short notice. By doing so, your organization can meet the needs of these stressed patients and keep them from infecting others and unnecessarily involving the emergency department. Providers can rule out more serious conditions and, if necessary, bring in the patient for further tests if they feel the need.
Gastrointestinal Issues
A majority of gastrointestinal issues aren’t going to need a lot of intervention. A consult with patients via telemedicine can root out the cause of the distress -- anything from dietary issues, stress, symptoms of other problems, or even a side effect of a new prescription. Whatever the case, the patient can be treated successfully through the virtual care platform. Also, with a few carefully asked questions a more serious issue could be identified and the patient directed to the right facility.
Skin Conditions
With the incorporation of HD two-way video in a virtual care platform, like eVisit, providers can see dermatological conditions in such detail they can identify the issue immediately, and prescribe the proper treatment through ePrescribe. This is also a great benefit when patients live in remote areas. Identifying simple rashes to more complex issues like Shingles can all be done on the platform. A convenience patients will be thankful for amid their discomfort.
Post-Surgical Follow Up
Using virtual care for surgical follow ups saves time, promotes healing at home, and decreases the potential injury risk. Patients won’t be interrupted from resting or inconvenienced with tricky transport needs. In their virtual visit their progress is easily assessed and their lab results are easily shared. Studies have shown that using virtual care reduces hospital readmission rates.
Prescription Refills
One of the most convenient ways to monitor a patient's progress, complete a quick follow up and confidently refill a prescription is with virtual care. There may be some restrictions based on what state your organization is in, so be sure to check out this handy guide if you have any questions.
Therapy and Counseling
Online therapy sessions are a game-changer. Our nation’s shortage of mental health professionals and the opioid epidemic means that many people aren’t getting the help they need. Online therapy and counseling services offer the intimacy of a face-to-face visit, with the comfort of the patient’s own home. Patients can consult with you on short notice, in non-emergency situations where they may otherwise use walk-in hours, or be unable to schedule an appointment. Using virtual care for behavioral health visits also alleviates one of the biggest stressors on the ED.
Help patients stick to their care plan and give them the tools they need to succeed anytime, anywhere.
