The Key To Caring for Patients Over The Holidays

It’s Thanksgiving night… the family is around the table enjoying good food and company, when suddenly the beeper goes off.  Then feelings of guilt follow as you step away from your family to address the necessary medical care of your patient. The inevitable occurs and you are dragged into an hour-long dialogue, contemplating whether or not to recommend admission for your patient.  This scenario is an unfortunate reality for many providers across the country. Changing weather and the holiday season restrict access beyond the already limited availability of providers.  Fortunately, this does not have to be the case with advancements in telemedicine.

There is indeed another way. Keep your patients out of the ER or urgent care while never having to leave your home through the power of video visits.

This holiday season, Doctors are sure to be pulled away from their families and festivities to care for patient crises who may be out of town themselves.  Providers who use telemedicine services, such as SimpleVisit, can see their patients wherever they are by simply answering a call on their smartphones, tablets or computers.

Learn how you can use SimpleVisit for secure televisits »

Benefits of Video Visits

Video visits answer some of the most common challenges that arise during the holiday season. Video visits reduce the amount of staff needed as things such as managing the waiting room and taking vitals of patients are generally unneeded due to the nature of the visit, or can be automated by the telemedicine software or equipment. By reducing the demands on staff by converting patients to video visits providers can help reduce stress in the office by giving staff much needed time off, allowing them to spend time with their families. Special patient needs such as transportation or regular checkups often become a major barrier to care in the holiday months. By offering video visits patients can see their primary care provider without ever leaving their own home, they might even get the family involved as well.

Video visits are a great way for providers to perform a multitude of common assessments and follow up activities with patients such as diagnosis of a UTI, Otitis Externa, and Blepharitis. It allows providers to dig much deeper than a standard phone call would, allowing providers to visualize symptoms patients report to them. By remaining available to the patients you can help them to avoid unnecessary costs and tests associated with visiting an outside provider. Video visits also help to improve the relationship between you and your patient by extending care to them beyond what would normally be available this holiday season.

Physician burnout is becoming a major concern among providers who find themselves more stressed and overworked than ever. Just because you are a medical provider does not mean you have to forgo the pleasures of the holiday season. By adding video visits to the list of services you offer your patients, you can keep the practice open, while still enjoying time with family and friends. As a provider, it is critical that you figure out a way to find balance in your work life or you will become one of the 45% of physicians who are on the verge of walking away from their practice.

Save your holidays

The fact of the matter is: no one wants to get sick around the holidays, but inevitably some of your patients will need your attention around the holidays. It is critical that you keep yourself available. For years this has meant stepping away from family, and facing snow to care for your patients in their time of need. But as times have changed and new innovations have come to the market there is now another option for providers come this holiday season. So avoid the physician burnout and keep your patients out of the emergency room with the help of video visits.  

About SimpleVisit

SimpleVisit is a video service which allows patients and providers to connect over the video platform of their choice. With SimpleVisit providers are able to deliver on-demand visits to patients over any device or platform they have available to them. For more information on SimpleVisit and on how we are enabling providers to host virtual visits check out www.SimpleVisit.com