Telehealth user guide

Telehealth allows practitioners to run remote video consultations with patients. A Telehealth Appointment sends the patient an SMS link before consultation time, and the practitioner is notified when the patient is waiting to begin.

On-prem practitioner quick start guide.

Requires Zedmed 38.5 or later.

Overview

Advantages of Zedmed's Telehealth:

Provides an integrated workflow for managing Telehealth appointments.
Embeds video within Clinical and provides display options web browsers and phones.
Notifies when the patient is waiting in the Telehealth session by displaying a banner on the patient record.
Reminds patients of the session by sending an SMS with the link for the Telehealth session.
Identifies Telehealth bookings in the Appointment Book and the Waiting Room.
Includes a Companion App to help cloud users run Telehealth in their local browser.
The Companion App integrates with Single Sign On (SSO) for streamlined authentication.

Workflow Summary

The patient books a Telehealth appointment and receives a confirmation SMS.
Before the appointment (e.g., 15 minutes), the patient receives an SMS with the Telehealth link.
The patient taps the link to open Telehealth, then taps Join (selectable 30 minutes before appointment).
This starts the video connection and Attends them to the Waiting Room.
The practitioner sees the patient in the Waiting Room and selects Admit.
This opens the patient's record and starts the consultation timer.
The practitioner opens Telehealth from Zedmed or the Companion App (for Zedmed Cloud).
The practitioner selects Start Consult in Telehealth.

Reception workflow

Reception creates Telehealth appointments, which are indicated by a camera icon in the Appointment Grid.

The patient is automatically Admitted to the Waiting Room when they select Join on the Telehealth homepage.
Reception can see the Appointment Type and monitor the Attend time if required.

Practitioner: on-prem workflow

Click here to view a onepage quickstart version

To run the Telehealth consultation.

Monitor the Waiting Room.
Patients automatically attend to the Waiting Room when they open Telehealth on their phone and tap Join.
A red notification banner appears above the patient's record when they have selected Join.
The patient's Telehealth will have the video and audio running, and display the message, 'Waiting for doctor'.
When ready, select Admit.
This opens the patient's record in Zedmed and starts the consultation timer.

From the Current Encounter menu, the practitioner opens Telehealth using one of four options:
• In Clinical - opens Telehealth within Zedmed Clinical - best option if you have one monitor.
• In Browsers - opens Telehealth in your web browser - best option if you have two monitors.
• Copy URL - for Zedmed Cloud users. Open your desktop browser and copy-paste the URL provided.
• SMS Link to doctors - sends a link to the doctor's phone using the mobile number in their Doctor Details.
The practitioner selects Start Consult.

This initiates the Telehealth call with the waiting patient.
The screenshot shows Telehealth running In Clinical.

If there is a disconnection, select Re-Join to resume the Telehealth consultation.
When the leave Icon is selected, Telehealth will close. This does not end the Encounter in Zedmed.

Practitioner: cloud workflow

Due to the bandwidth limitations of Zedmed Cloud, Telehealth practitioners use Zedmed's Companion App on their local computer's browser to perform Telehealth consultations.

The Companion App is used to:

View the Clinical Waiting Room on their local PC's web browser.
Open the Telehealth link in the local web browser on their local desktop or mobile phone.

Opening the Companion App

When the practitioner starts Zedmed, they should also open the bookmarked Companion App in their local web browser. For optimal results, use a second monitor or device. Alternatively, if you are using a single monitor, position the Companion App browser at 1/4 or 1/3 screen width next to Zedmed's browser.

To run the Telehealth consultation:

Monitor the status of patients with appointments in the Companion App.
• Patients who have not joined, but the doctor has Admitted, will appear as yellow - Admitted.
• Patients who opened TeleHealth and selected Join will appear as green - Patient arrived.
• Patients who are not ready show as grey, and the practitioner cannot start a Telehealth consult with them.

When ready, Admit the patient from the Waiting Room.
This opens the patient's record in Clinical and starts the consultation timer.
Join the video consultation using one of three methods:
- On the Companion App, select the Open Telehealth icon (patient must be admitted)
  This will display Telenealth in place of the Companion App (back arrow to return to the App).
- From Zedmed Select Copy URL, and paste the telehealth link into a browser
- From Zedmed, select SMS Link to doctor to send a link to the practitioner's phone.
Each option opens the Telehealth home page.
Select Start Consult.
Conduct the consultation as normal, using the video to view and communicate with the patient.
The patient will be removed from the Companion App once they have been billed.

Companion App options:

Filters - Choose between All appointments and Telehealth appointments only.
Tele Waiting - Show only patients who have arrived (opened the link and clicked Join).
If they leave, they will change to Telehealth appointments.
Show Billed - Includes patients who have been billed (The Waiting Room is checked for this status).
Refresh - The Companion App refreshes the patients shown every minute, or when the Refresh button is selected.

Patient workflow

To join the Telehealth consultation:

Receives the Reminder SMS - commonly 15 minutes before the appointment.
Selects the Telehealth link in the SMS.
From the landing page, the patient can preview their camera and microphone setup (middle screenshot below).
A message (screenshot three below) will display advising either:
- The practitioner has started the call.
- The practitioner will arrive shortly.
Select the Join button.
The Join button becomes available 30 minutes before the consultation. A message will advise the patient of this.
Selecting Join will automatically Attend the patient to the Waiting Room.
For Zedmed Cloud users, the patient will also appear in the Companion App as Patient Arrived.