As a doctor and a therapist, I believe that having face to face consultations are best. They provide a better doctor-patient relationship, which is the avenue through which both parties can “meet” each other, and develop a better understanding.
However, in these times of social distancing, and with the need to especially support our rural doctors, Telehealth can provide a good substitute. Both parties need to be aware that it is not as easy, and need to find the best path to work together. Of course, the easiest way to do this is to talk about the difficulties, and find common ground.
Before we begin, it is good to get the basics out of the way:
- Kindly complete this Information and Consent Form and return the completed document to me. At this stage it is probably better to print, sign and scan. This will also request some basic information. If you have any questions, please discuss at the first consultation.
- All consultations will, at this stage, be bulk billed, so an up-to-date Medicare number is required.
- All information will be confidential except where it contravenes Mandatory Reporting or legal grounds. However, these exceptions are usually around quite obvious violations where outside help would be necessary anyway.
- Kindly make sure I have both your email address and mobile number to make contact (especially if there is any hardware problem
- It is best to use your laptop with good internet to connect.
- Kindly download the app for your device from https://zoom.us/download , and ensure the audio and video settings are correct (and not muted). Ask someone if in doubt.
- I will send an email invite for the time our meeting is scheduled, which you can click to connect. It will send you to the Zoom website if not already installed, requesting you download the app (for whatever device you are using). Once downloaded, it should connect via video quickly. Just again check that the the Video and Audio are working. Strangely, few have had any difficulty
- If all else fails, we can still chat via telephone
It would always be helpful to catch up face-to-face after this crisis passes, although Telehealth will continue to be available.
No doubt as time goes on, there will be further discussion here regarding the intricacies of Telehealth. If you have any issues you would like me to add, please drop me a line.