How to Use Telehealth in Clinical Practice

10 Practical Ways to Use Telehealth in Clinical Practice

Telehealth is more than just a temporary solution—it’s a strategic way to improve care accessibility, efficiency, and patient engagement. By integrating digital tools such as video calls, secure messaging, mobile health apps, and remote monitoring into your clinical operations, you can extend care beyond the walls of your office. 

Here are 10 practical ways to implement telehealth in your daily clinical workflow:

1. Select Ideal Appointment Types for Virtual Care

Not all appointments require face-to-face interaction, and telehealth excels in situations where convenience and efficiency matter most. Start by identifying visit types where virtual care provides the same clinical value as in-person visits.

• Follow-ups, medication checks, and chronic condition management are top candidates.
  
• Exclude high-complexity cases that require physical exams or lab testing.
  
• Start small with common use cases, monitor outcomes, and refine your process before wider adoption.
  

2. Educate Patients on Telehealth Access and Etiquette

Patients are more likely to engage with telehealth when they understand how to use it and what to expect. Empowering them with knowledge improves adoption, satisfaction, and the quality of each interaction.

• Provide simple guides, short videos, and checklists to walk patients through the process.
  
• Train staff to help troubleshoot basic tech problems.
  
• Offer extra support for older adults or patients with limited internet access.
  

3. Enhance Communication with HIPAA-Compliant Answering Services

Many patients still prefer making a phone call when they have questions, even in a digital-first care model. HIPAA-compliant answering services ensure secure and seamless communication between patients and providers.

• Use services that support appointment scheduling, message-taking, and after-hours support.
  
• Ensure call handling aligns with telehealth workflows and privacy standards.
  
• Reduce your internal team’s admin burden and improve responsiveness to patient needs.
  

4. Maintain Clinical Standards in Virtual Visits

Telehealth should never be a downgrade in quality. Virtual visits must uphold the same clinical rigor, professionalism, and documentation standards as in-person care.

• Use specialty-specific workflows to guide virtual encounters.
  
• Train providers on best practices for virtual assessments and EHR documentation.
  
• Audit sessions regularly to ensure compliance and identify gaps.
  

5. Leverage Telehealth Data to Optimize Care

Every virtual visit generates insights. From no-show trends to patient feedback, telehealth data can help fine-tune operations and enhance clinical outcomes.

• Analyze scheduling patterns, visit outcomes, and patient satisfaction.
  
• Use dashboards to turn raw data into actionable improvements.
  
• Refine processes like triage, follow-ups, and remote monitoring based on insights.
  

6. Incorporate Remote Patient Monitoring for Chronic Conditions

Pairing telehealth with remote patient monitoring (RPM) extends care between visits and enables timely interventions for patients managing long-term conditions.

• Monitor vitals like blood pressure, glucose, and oxygen levels from home.
  
• Use RPM for diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, and COPD management.
  
• Alert clinicians to potential complications before they escalate.
  

7. Use Secure Messaging for Ongoing Patient Communication

Not every question needs a live call. Secure messaging allows patients to stay in touch between visits while reducing interruptions for providers.

• Let patients share updates, ask questions, or request clarifications.
  
• Maintain a record of all communication within the patient chart.
  
• Reduce call volume and support better continuity of care.
  

8. Streamline Prescription Management and Renewals

Telehealth is ideal for managing medications, especially maintenance prescriptions that don’t require in-person assessment.

• Conduct medication reviews virtually for chronic conditions.
  
• Handle renewals through secure portals or video visits.
  
• Integrate with e-prescribing systems for pharmacy coordination.
  

9. Provide Mental Health Support Virtually

Behavioral health is one of the most effective use cases for telehealth, providing flexibility, privacy, and increased access for patients in need.

• Offer therapy, counseling, and psychiatric consultations online.
  
• Improve access for patients in remote or underserved communities.
  
• Reduce no-show rates with convenient scheduling.
  

10. Expand Access to Specialists Through Teleconsults

Telehealth can break down barriers to specialist care. Virtual consults speed up diagnosis and improve collaboration between providers.

• Let primary care physicians consult specialists without requiring patient travel.
  
• Use shared EHRs or secure platforms for real-time care coordination.
  
• Improve outcomes with faster referrals and more integrated care plans.

Factors to Consider When Selecting a Telehealth Service Provider

Choosing the right telehealth platform safeguards your patients, streamlines your operations, and makes care delivery truly accessible. Here’s a breakdown of key areas to evaluate before making a decision:

1. Security and Compliance

When it comes to clinical health care, security is foundational. You’re handling sensitive patient data, from personal health histories to medication records. If this information is not properly protected, the consequences can be serious, not just legally but also in terms of patient trust.

So, before you commit to telemedicine services, dig into their compliance track record.

• Are they HIPAA-compliant (for the U.S.)?
• Are they PHIPA-compliant (for Ontario)?
• Or PIPEDA-compliant (for the rest of Canada)? 

Pro tip. Ask for documentation or a demo of how their medical record protection protocols work in real-time. Seeing is believing.

2. Wide Device and OS Compatibility

Not every patient is tech-savvy, and not every provider works from a single device type. That’s why compatibility and patient engagement is key.

A solid telehealth platform should work across multiple devices, such as mobile devices, tablets, and desktops, and support both iOS and Android, Windows, and macOS. This flexibility means your patients won’t be blocked from urgent care just because they use an older Android phone or a MacBook for healthcare acess.

For example, a patient might use a Windows PC at work and an iPhone at home. The platform should work seamlessly on both without requiring extra downloads or a complicated setup to receive test results.

Before signing a contract, test the platform on different devices in real-world conditions. 

• Can a patient start a video consult with two taps? 
• Can a provider switch devices mid-call without disruption? 

These little details affect real-life usability.

3. Flexible Billing and Payment Options

Telehealth is meant to simplify the quality of care, not create billing headaches for healthcare providers. Patients expect these medical services to be cost-effective and easy to pay for. So, your platform should support a variety of payment options, from insurance companies billing to digital payments like credit cards, PayPal, or eChecks.

Also, confirm whether insurance reimbursement can be submitted directly through the platform. Does it support real-time eligibility checks? These features ease the burden on your front desk staff and your new patients.

 It’s worth sending patients a summary of accepted payment methods before their first appointment. 

4. Integration Options

If your telehealth platform does not integrate with your other hospital systems, you add another layer of manual work and security risk.

Ideally, your telehealth tool should integrate smoothly with your EHR, billing healthcare systems, scheduling tools, and even HIPAA-compliant telecommunications technologies. This ensures that data flows freely and securely, reducing duplication and improving virtual health care coordination.

For example, A patient books a virtual visit through your telehealth portal without a waiting room. That appointment should automatically reflect in your EHR, along with the clinical notes and billing codes, without anyone needing to re-enter them.

Integration also enhances communication between care teams and patients need.

Pro tip. Ask vendors if they offer open APIs or have partnerships with popular EHRs. This can save you countless hours during the implementation of healthcare facilities and daily operations.

Overcoming Common Telehealth Challenges

Telehealth adoption continues to rise, but many providers and patients still face practical hurdles that hinder its effectiveness. The most common challenges include limited internet access, low tech literacy, patient privacy worries, and provider hesitation. Addressing these issues with clear, user-friendly solutions is critical to making virtual care reliable and accessible.

1. Poor Internet Connectivity

Connectivity issues can disrupt appointments, reduce video quality, or cause missed consultations. This especially affects rural or underserved areas.

Real-world solutions:

• Offer phone-based consultations as a backup to video calls.
  
• Choose platforms that auto-adjust video quality based on bandwidth.
  
• Allow asynchronous communication like secure messaging when live connections fail.
  
• Encourage use of community access points with reliable internet, like local clinics or libraries.
  

2. Low Technology Literacy

Many patients, especially older adults, struggle to navigate telehealth platforms. This leads to missed or inefficient appointments.

Real-world solutions:

• Provide simple interfaces with minimal steps.
  
• Include pre-visit tutorials or walkthrough videos.
  
• Offer live tech support or “test runs” before appointments.
  
• Allow caregivers to assist during sessions when appropriate.
  

3. Patient Privacy and Data Security Concerns

Some patients are hesitant to share personal health information online due to fears about breaches or unauthorized access.

Real-world solutions:

• Use platforms with end-to-end encryption and HIPAA compliance.
  
• Clearly explain how patient data is protected.
  
• Offer privacy tips (e.g., choosing a private location, using headphones).
  
• Include a consent process to build trust and clarity.
  

4. Resistance from Providers

Not all clinicians are comfortable with or convinced by telehealth, citing concerns about quality of care, technology reliability, or workflow disruption.

Real-world solutions:

• Provide training and onboarding for staff with real-world scenarios.
  
• Integrate telehealth into existing EHRs and workflows to reduce friction.
  
• Share evidence of improved outcomes and patient satisfaction.
  
• Offer peer support or telehealth champions to mentor others.
  

By understanding and responding to these challenges, healthcare providers can build a more inclusive, efficient, and trusted telehealth program that works for both patients and staff.

Merge HIPAA-Compliance and Telehealth Efficiency with PatientCalls

Running a successful telehealth practice means building a seamless, secure, and efficient system behind the scenes for better patient outcomes. That’s where PatientCalls comes in.

We offer HIPAA-compliant medical answering support to keep your operations running smoothly without compromising patient privacy. 

Our services are built to integrate with your existing health systems so your team can focus more on medical care and less on manual work. It could be appointment setting, call handling, or documentation support.

And when we say HIPAA-compliant, we mean it. PatientCalls goes beyond the basic requirements, with regular high-quality healthcare delivery and systematic reviews to keep the use of electronic information safe and your practice aligned with regulatory standards.

Here’s how we support you day-to-day:

• Daily overflow support. We handle high call volumes during busy clinic hours, giving your in-house staff, like a nurse practitioner, breathing room without missing a beat.
• After-hours services. We follow your protocols to ensure urgent medical calls are handled appropriately, even outside office hours.
• Weekend & holiday availability. Our agents are available 24/7, 365 days a year, so you and your team can unplug when needed.

If you’re looking for a telehealth partner who understands the pressures of modern practice and takes compliance seriously, PatientCalls is here to help.

Get started with us.

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