The use of Telemedicine is a reality in the health area. It has been used for a long time, from practices such as answering messages, to consultations by videoconference. Today, it has become even more indispensable.
In an exceptional situation, on March 18, 2020, the Ministry of Health authorized, via a bill, the use of Telemedicine in any area of health, aiming at the continuity of medical care for the population, in a time of crisis caused by COVID-19. Social isolation is an essential security measure to prevent contamination of the virus. However, everyone knows that the health area cannot stop, and a great way to continue taking care of your patients in a safe way is through Telemedicine.
A study on the challenges of Telemedicine states that its practices allow interaction between different health professionals, enabling the increase of correct diagnoses, with a higher quality of care and less cost. Telemedicine plays an important role in remote assistance and information dissemination. Thus, it is believed that Telemedicine can expand the actions of health professionals and agents, maintaining a continuous service mechanism for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. More than ever, health professionals realize the importance of medical services at a distance. However, fear is still very prevalent in the medical environment: is it possible to maintain humanized care in technology? The answer could not be clearer: yes, it is possible. Telemedicine can strengthen humanized care, different from what many think.
Want to find out how humanized remote service works? Read on!
Humanized care in Telemedicine: How does it work?
Here, we have separated some examples to explain how humanized care in Telemedicine works in practice.
Health prevention: with the practicality of Telemedicine, you receive the results of the exams of the patients quickly, and can monitor in real-time the vital signs of the patients, when using mobile technologies that perform this monitoring through smart watches or smartphones. Thus, preventing the health of patients becomes even more effective.
Closer contact with patients: normally, health professionals are only able to talk to patients during the consultation. In Telemedicine, you can safely keep in touch with your patients outside the office, building an even more lasting relationship.
Personalized digital relationship: one of the main characteristics of humanized care is personalization, the delivery of a unique experience for the patient. By following the steps that we will cite in the article, you will be able to create a fully personalized digital relationship for your patients.
More assertiveness in diagnoses: Telemedicine manages to unite different health professionals quickly. Unlike most cases, where a patient consults with several professionals who do not communicate, through practices such as Teleconsultation, these specialists can come together to deliver a complete and integrated treatment to the patient.
How to maintain humanized care in telemedicine?
Entire focus on patients
Just as you do in your consultations, in Telemedicine you also need to have a total focus on patients. That is, avoid as much as possible leaving your cell phone nearby during an appointment, and do not open other platforms such as social networks, to avoid distractions. You may find it difficult to concentrate during a video conference or message exchange.
To help, always use the technique of looking into patients’ eyes. In Teleconsultation, for example, maintain eye contact with the screen that is showing your patient. If you are not visualizing, imagine that the screen is your patient, and stay focused on it. That way, you can be more present at the moment, even from a distance.
Keep being empathetic and considerate
The way of providing care does not change just because the format is different. All the attention and care that you practice in a face-to-face consultation will also continue in a Teleconsultation, calls, or messages. In cases where you need to communicate digitally – that is, by message – it is normal for us to experience difficulty. After all, unlike a call, where our tone of voice can express our feelings, a text does not necessarily have that facility.
Therefore, it is essential to be even more careful with communication in these media, to avoid confusion and possible misunderstandings. A good tip is to always look at the message again before sending it. So, if you feel the need to change something, just make the change.
Remember the patient’s experience
The patient’s experience with the care does not start only in the face-to-face consultation or in the distance care. It happens from the scheduling process, until the post-consultation.
To ensure a great experience, it is essential to have services that facilitate appointment scheduling, such as online scheduling and appointment confirmation reminders. In addition to allowing your patient to make an appointment anytime and from anywhere, you also prevent them from forgetting the appointment, reducing the rate of absenteeism. The post-consultation moment is also essential. With Telemedicine, you can improve the patient’s experience, and keep in touch through practices such as email marketing.