Donald McCormack
Aug 25 2022
Reading Time: 3 minutes
By: Donald McCormack, Technical Product Manager, CitusHealth
When comparing where we are today versus at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has come a long way. Even though companies scrambled to implement telehealth technology as a necessity to keep employees and patients safe, video messaging has now become a common expectation in the wake of the pandemic for non-hands-on clinical needs.
In today’s new normal, receiving secure video messages from care teams is becoming more common—and it’s even becoming an expectation among healthcare consumers. Soon, it’ll be the norm for patients to initiate video calls with their clinicians as well.
Here are four ways to use video chat technology in home-based care, helping providers save resources and engage patients and caregivers on a deeper level.
Use video chat for teach-backs.
In home health, when care teams are not available for face-to-face conversations 24/7, it’s important that patients and their family caregivers understand their care plan, how to operate medical equipment, and what drugs they need to be taking or administering. This is often referred to as the teach-back method, where clinicians explain care details and have patients or families say it back in their own words—to confirm they understand.
Until now, this routine step has been done in person. Clinicians travel to the home, demonstrate care details, and ensure everyone thoroughly understands before leaving. Whether it’s dosage amounts, connecting tubing, or doing infusions—any teaching moment can now be done via video message, saving care teams the time and resources it takes to travel to and from the home.
Use video chat for complex wound care.
When nurses assess a wound for complexity, they often work with an external company specializing in complex wound care. This entails delaying care due to scheduling a consult and having to wait on feedback.
With video chat, nurses can assess with wound specialists in real time—avoiding the need for multiple visits and getting the wound treated faster.
Use video chat for checking in with patients.
Normally, when discovering a patient has new symptoms, nurses would have to make a home visit to assess the situation in person. With video chat, nurses can have a face-to-face conversation about drug reactions, wounds or blisters, or symptoms to get a visual of the problem and make a confident decision about next steps and clinical recommendations.
Use video chat for comfort.
When families can reach out to care teams with questions or even just to chat about their loved one, they’re comforted knowing that someone is always there to help them through such a difficult situation. This is especially true for hospice, when it’s a stressful time for families and a comforting voice at their fingertips can make a positive impact on their care experience.
Relying on phone calls and in-home visits for minor, non-hands-on clinical needs is a thing of the past. With CitusHealth, organizations get one complete digital solution where secure video chatting can happen directly within the application or app-less using any browser—saving time on home visits and engaging those they serve in real time. Request a demo to see for yourself how we can help home-based care providers connect with patients and caregivers in new and innovative ways.
