The Mindware Connection

Making Your Office More Productive and Efficient JUST USING YOUR VOICE!

COVID-19 has forced physicians to look for solutions for seeing patients outside of their normal practice. Fortunately, telemedicine and telehealth have been around a while and many doctor's are already set up to provide this care.  If you are looking to help your practice and your patients with this technology, or could use a few pointers, the American Medical Association has provided this article to help you set up both telemedicine and telehealth. This information is informative and up-to-date.

In addition here are a few tips to make your telemedicine calls successful:

1. Use a High Quality Web Cam

Your call will only be as good as your equipment. You want to be able to clearly see your patient and whatever their visual symptoms may be.  Patients will be comforted if they can clearly see your expressions, and will respond more positively.

2. Hard Wire Your Internet Connection and Use Power Cords

Wired connections are more stable, so use an ethernet cable instead of wifi whenever possible. You don't want to be in the middle of an appointment, possibly diagnosing your patient, and have the power die. So use power cords instead of depending on batteries that may not be fully charged.

3. Find Tools to Help With Your Workflow

Dragon Speech Recognition will help with creating patient notes quicker so the increased volume of calls will flow smoothly. Research the latest in telehealth technology to be able to move thru your appointments and give your patients what they need. Updated computer hardware will help with newer technologies and the requirements to be efficient.

4. Choose a Quiet Space with Good Lighting

Set up your telemedicine office in a quiet room where you will not have distractions. Physicians are required to ensure patient privacy and it is crucial to a professional telemedicine visit.  Making sure your lighting is sufficient is fundamental so that there is no frustration on the patient's part as they communicate with you.

This COVID-19 pandemic is here to stay for a while. Change can make things more efficient and even guide us into better ways of doing business. Researching your needs with your patients in mind will assure a smoother transition for days to come.

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW

How AI in the Exam Room Could Reduce Physician Burnout

By: Michael Ash, Joe Petro and Shafig Rab

November 12, 2019

INNOVATION

A surge of new healthcare products from wearable consumer health trackers to diagnostic algorithms promising to improve medical outcomes and costs with artificial intelligence (AI) is prompting physicians and hospital executives to ask a fundamental question: "Are these technologies solving the right problems?"

Price reductions are rare... and this is an extraordinary opportunity! Now if you purchase Dragon Medical One you not only have access to this incredible software, but you receive PowerMic Mobile included in your subscription - a $240/year savings! This lets you use your smartphone as a microphone!

Physicians work tirelessly trying to provide their patients with the best possible care. The physical exam is just the start. Keeping up with patient history and taking care to enter accurate updates to the patient record can be critical for patient health. That is why "Note Bloat" has become such a problem today.

A friend of mine recently moved to California and was telling me about her experience visiting a designated doctor on her insurance plan. She was forced to wait over an hour to see the doctor and then felt like she had gone back in time, like some sort of twilight zone, because the doctor was using a paper chart. WOW!

That is two strikes against the outdated doctor and additionally for the insurance program that lists this doctor! It is 2019 and the doctor was paper charting? Could that be part of why my friend had to wait so long to see the physician. Her reaction? "I am not going back there!"