How do I set up and use the telemedicine feature?

Introduction

Telemedicine helps work around distancing and can improve access to veterinary services that may not be available to clients unable to leave their home. Telemedicine can also be used to save patients in critical care and emergency situations or for quick follow-up visits. The client calls the veterinary business and, with telemedicine, may be able to get medical advice or a prescription from the veterinarian.

You cannot link your Zoom Pro account to the integration at this time. 

To enable this integration, go to Menu > Settings > Practice Settings > General > Integration Settings and select Enable Telemedicine, then save.

Create a Virtual Visit

To get started with telemedicine, create an appointment for the client/patient and check the

option “Virtual Visit”.

1. Go to Appointments.
2. Create a new appointment.
3. Enter the information for the appointment,
4. At the bottom of the Add Visit screen, check the box labeled Virtual Visit.
5. Click Save.

Appointments setup as a virtual visit will have a video icon in the lower right corner of the appointment.

Email the Virtual Visit Link

The next step, after creating the appointment, is to email the appointment link to the client. The client will click on the link in the email to join the meeting.

1. In Appointments, click or right-click on the virtual visit appointment to bring up the shortcut menu.
2. From the Virtual Visit sub-menu, click on Email.
   
3. The email screen will open, populating the fields with the client’s email address and patient name.
4. A default message will be automatically generated which will include the link for the client to click on and the password to enter the virtual visit at the appointed time. The message can be modified, if necessary.
   
5. Click Send.

Default Telemedicine Email

A default email template is provided for you. However, the email can be customized to suit your business needs. 

From the email template section, set an email template as virtual visit by selecting "Is Virtual Visit Template". When this option is selected for a new email template, an example email content is generated with virtual visit merge fields. You can update the content or enter your own.

There are new merge fields available for virtual visit email template:
%virtualvisitappt% - virtual visit date and time
%virtualvisiturl% - virtual visit participant link
%virtualvisitpassword% - virtual visit password

Once a virtual visit email template is created, it is available for selection from virtual visit email.

You may wish to create an appointment type for virtual visits and exclude the appointment type from automatic forms of communication so you can select your custom email. In addition, having a virtual visit appointment type is useful for reporting purposes.

Before the Virtual Visit

If the virtual visit entails consulting about a patient’s wound, skin issue, or limping, it is recommended the clinic request the client send images or video of the affected area on the patient before the meeting. This will give the medical personnel time to review the images or video before the virtual visit and be better prepared to treat the patient at the time of the visit.

The client can upload photos via the portal so they may be reviewed during the virtual visit.

SMS Reminder

To send a SMS reminder for a virtual visit appointment, locate the appointment from your practice calendar and click or right-click, select Virtual Visit > SMS.

The SMS window will open. You can select the existing client's phone number or add a new number. Select Send to send SMS.

The Virtual Visit

At the time of the meeting, the veterinary staff member assigned to the meeting will start the

meeting then admit the client to the enter the meeting. The client, in the meantime, clicks the link provided in the email and enters the password, if requested, which is also provided in the email. The client enters the virtual “waiting room” until the veterinary staff allows them to enter the meeting room.

Meetings can be started from the shortcut menu off the appointment or from inside the patient’s medical record.

Launch from Appointment

1. Go to Appointments.
2. Right-click on the virtual visit appointment.
3. Click on Launch.
4. Follow the screen prompts from Zoom to start the meeting.
   
   

Launch from Medical Records

1. Open the patient’s medical record.
2. Click on the camera icon to launch the meeting.
   
3. Follow the screen prompts from Zoom to start the meeting.
   
   

Start the Meeting

When the veterinary staff member starts the meeting, Zoom provides the option to use the computer’s speaker or use the phone to call in for audio.

The option to admit a client to the meeting will be displayed or the staff member may go to the virtual waiting room. Clients scheduled for virtual visits, and have followed the link to attend a meeting, will show in the waiting room. Staff clicks on the client name then clicks Admit.

Virtual visits can be recorded and saved in the patient’s medical record. Zoom provides an excellent video and step-by-step instructions for recording the meetings.

From the patient’s medical record, click on the link to Upload Files. As the screen shows, add files by “dropping” them in the form or click to browse and navigate to where the recording is located.

Conclude a Meeting

To end a virtual visit, simply close the Zoom screen. You may receive a confirmation to end or leave the meeting. There is also a button users may click on to end a meeting. On the client  side, a client can click a button to leave a meeting or simply close the windows.

Accepting Payments

Some clinics prefer accepting payments at the time the virtual visit is booked. Regardless if the payment is accepted before the visit or after, there are different ways to receive payment from clients for a virtual visit.

One option to receive payments for virtual visits would be to direct the client to the portal immediately after creating the appointment. The client can review the initial consult invoice and pay if the clinic integrates with Worldpay.

Another payment option would be to email the invoice to the client.

1. From the Checkout screen, click on the email button and choose Email Invoice.
2. On the email screen, select the invoice template.
3. Verify the client’s email address is correct and the message content is correct.
4. Click Send.

Virtual Visit Appointment Report

When generating a new Appointment report, you can choose to include only virtual visit appointments. This report is useful as a usage report or can be used to capture the list of virtual visits at the beginning of the day.

Troubleshooting

Using Zoom

 Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, Inc.) is used for virtual visits. For more information about Zoom and how to use this feature, visit Zoom’s Support site.

Record the Meeting

For more information about recording a meeting, refer to Zoom’s Local Recording page for stepby- step instructions.

The Waiting Room

When a client clicks on the link for the virtual visit, the host (clinic staff assigned to the visit) is able to control attendance in the meeting. The host also has the ability to put the client back in the waiting room. This will come in handy, for example, when the doctor leaves the meeting and turns the meeting over to another team member.

For more information, refer to Zoom’s Waiting Room page.

You can also refer to the Telemedicine FAQ article for more information.