How to Handle These 4 Concerns Your Patients Might Have About Telemedicine

Posted By
Adam Grant

Your medical clinic has gone about instituting a telemedicine solution the right way. It has chosen an easy and secure platform like Banty Virtual Clinic; trained clinical staff how to use it; promoted it to patients; and have thus far had minimal hiccups when hosting virtual doctor appointments.

However, your clinic is still encountering those patients who have great concerns about lessening the number of in-person appointments they have, in place of online ones.

Firstly, this is a natural response for some who do not embrace change as readily as others, or those who look at telehealth services and envision numerous red flags.

Secondly, there is a lot your medical clinic can do to not just curb these concerns, but also convert these patients into those who become happy to have a live video chat online with their doctor.

Let’s take a look at how your clinic can quell a handful of very specific patient concerns:

Privacy and Security

Without question, many patients may not feel comfortable making an online doctor’s appointment because they fear their personal medical information will be leaked online. What’s more, they may also assume that the telemedicine solution you are using will collect and store such private data.

While we can’t speak for all other telehealth service providers, Banty Virtual Clinic uses end-to-end encryption to ensure everything said in a virtual doctor’s appointment remains private. Additionally, we do not collect and store anything discussed during said appointments.

For an added level of security, each Banty Virtual Clinic meeting space comes with our door lock feature. When activated, uninvited third parties are unable to enter the room. Rather, those who show up early for an appointment will be asked to wait in the ultra-friendly virtual waiting room.

Level of Care

Patients need to know that just because you are having a video call with them instead of an in-person appointment, the level of care being provided doesn’t diminish.

Here, it’s important to explain to patients that virtual visits are designed for patient and practice convenience and efficiency. However, if a doctor believes a matter requires an in-person appointment versus one held upon their telemedicine solution, that’ll happen.

Reassure patients that they are not being shoved aside merely because technology has revolutionized how treatment can be delivered. They are simply being given an option to see a doctor virtually for occasions where it doesn’t make sense to instead trek to the clinic. 

The Technology

Not everyone loves technology – new, dated, or otherwise. While some patients will like the idea of being able to book a doctor’s appointment online, they will not like the idea of having to figure out how to enter that video call.

If you’ve welcomed telemedicine into your clinic, you need to be prepared to offer some level of tech support to patients. This can be handled directly by administrative team members, how-to brochures, or easy-to-access online resources.

Scheduling

Upfront, it’s not obvious to all that what makes a virtual doctor visit amazing is being able to enter one no matter where you are.

When someone expresses concern that a video conference with their doctor will be tough to squeeze into their hectic schedule, remind them the appointment is dramatically easier to get to, and quicker to complete.

Now, those with busy agendas can enter a live video chat online with their doctor via computer, or Banty Virtual Clinic's mobile apps for iOS- and Android-based smartphones and tablets. They no longer have to drive to a clinic, or log in from home. If necessary, these folks can complete a virtual appointment from their office, car, or another private location.

Tap here to learn more about the benefits of Banty Virtual Clinic, as well as the 14-day free trial available to all new subscribers.

Related Blog Posts

Adam Grant

Adam has been a professional, published writer for more than 20 years. He has experience writing about technology, business, music, news, as well as many topics in-between. When not banging away at the keyboard, Adam spins vinyl, obsesses over sports, and takes his dog on giant walks.