Giving and receiving care via phone or video conference is not new — telemedicine has been around for decades. What is new is its necessity. In the time of COVID-19, telemedicine has become a crucial tool that is keeping patients safe at home and practice owners in business.
If you or your practice didn’t have telemedicine offerings and procedures in place prior to the start of this pandemic, you may have found yourself scrambling to catch up. From training your staff on a new tool, to installing the necessary software, to selecting a platform that suits your needs — it’s a process that can take time.
The good news? There are more than a few platforms. But researching them all can be intimidating if you’re new to the concept. So we’ve broken down just a handful of your many options to help you get started. They all have different features, benefits, and costs. But most importantly, they all allow you to continue seeing and caring for patients.
Doxy.me
Doxy.me is one of the few telehealth platforms that offer a basic version that’s completely free and doesn’t require any software installation. If you have a laptop with a camera, you’re ready to use Doxy.me. Their web service allows you to create a personalized URL (for example, www.doxy.me/DrSmith) to invite your patients into your “office.” Workflow features in the basic version include a waiting room, patient queue, text chat, meeting history, and browser notifications when a patient has arrived for their appointment.
They also have upgraded options with more advanced features. The professional version offers the ability to create a room passcode for extra security, to edit and adjust the waiting room as your schedule changes, and to send text and email notifications from the platform. Another helpful feature of the professional level of the Doxy.me is payment management. Rather than having to set up a separate digital payment platform, your practice can bill your patients directly through Doxy.me.
Doxy.me is completely HIPAA, GDPR, PHIPA/PIPEDA, and HITECH compliant.
Doxy.me
| Platform | Pricing | Top features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Unlimited audio and video minutes/sessions, personalized room URL, no software download necessary, and more |
| Professional | $35 per month | All Free features plus… HD video, option for audio call only, waiting room passcodes, text and email notifications, photo capture, screen sharing, payment processing, and more |
| Clinic | $50 per month, per provider | All Professional features plus… monthly usage report, admin controls, shared rooms, simultaneous calls, room access control, custom branding ($300), and more |
Mend
Mend is a full-feature platform with solutions to not only see and treat patients but also optimize your business for success and profitability. Their artificial intelligence (AI) feature predicts no-shows to help improve your bottom line. It also aims to solve problems like cancellations and missed appointments by integrating with EHR platforms and allowing patients to book, modify, and reschedule independently at any time of the day.
Mend’s platform also offers surveying options to identify patient dissatisfaction and get ahead of bad reviews. The goal of this feature is to help providers manage their online presence, which of course is closely tied to success as a telemedicine business.
The robust services can take some leg work to get up and running. But, in light of COVID-19, Mend recently launched a lighter-weight option that allows you to get set up almost instantly. They’re calling it “Mend Now” and it has all the basic features — like video, scheduling, and HIPAA compliance — you need to start seeing patients virtually today.
Mend is fully HIPAA compliant.
Mend
| Platform | Pricing | Top features |
|---|---|---|
| Mend Now Telehealth Monthly | $59 per month, per provider + $199 set-up fee | Unlimited patient and staff users, unlimited video and audio calls, no software download necessary, custom branding, chat during video, and more |
| Mend Now Telehealth Annual | $49 per month | Unlimited patient and staff users, unlimited video and audio calls, no software download necessary, custom branding, chat during video, and more |
| Mend Pro Telehealth | Contact for a quote | All Mend Now features plus… patient self-scheduling and rescheduling, post-visit surveys, payments, EHR integration, and more |
SimplePractice
At its core, SimplePractice is a practice management system. But they’ve recently introduced telemedicine to their platform. That means it has all the features you’d expect of a practice management system like billing, scheduling, and a patient portal, while also providing video and audio appointment capabilities.
They offer a free 30-day trial, which is a good place to start if you’re unsure of your needs and want to test the waters. In addition to basic telemedicine features, SimplePractice has a library of diagnosis and treatment plans. It’s a searchable database with thousands of ICD-10 codes with treatment plans and progress notes to help ease administrative burden.
If you’re looking for both a practice management system and a basic telemedicine solution, SimplePractice is a good place to start. Their “Essential” plan does not include telemedicine features, so we’ve only listed details for their Professional and Group plans.
SimplePractice is fully HIPAA compliant.
SimplePractice
| Platform | Pricing | Top features |
|---|---|---|
| Professional Plan | $59 per month + $10 for telemedicine features | An appointment booking widget for your website, custom note templates, claim filing, billing, ICD-10 codes and autocomplete for charting, storage and processing of credit cards, e-claim filing, and more |
| Group Practice | $59 for first clinicians + $39 for each additional clinician + $10 per clinician for telemedicine features. | An appointment booking widget for your website, custom note templates, claim filing, billing, ICD-10 codes and autocomplete for charting, storage and processing of credit cards, e-claim filing, and more |
eVisit
eVisit offers solutions not just for small and solo practices, but also for some of the largest hospital systems in the country. The platform provides advanced productivity tools that help ease the administrative burden often associated with a patient visit.
For example, eVisit’s charting tools allow providers to quickly make notes during a visit, or at the end of the day for all appointments. If your EHR doesn’t allow for direct integration with eVisit, you can simply export and upload your charts. When it comes to getting your patients the medications they need, you can use the e-prescription feature to send a prescription to a pharmacy with the click of a button.
eVisit’s website doesn’t provide any pricing information for its different products and solutions. To learn more about their features, costs, and if they have what you’re looking for, call (844) 693-8474.
How to choose the right telemedicine platform
There’s a lot to consider when choosing a platform that suits your needs and your practice’s goals. From the size of your practice, to your patients’ willingness to try telemedicine, the decision takes strategic thinking. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you compare these, and other, platforms:
How much am I willing to spend, if anything?
How many staff members in my practice will need to use this platform?
Do I need more than simple video and audio features?
Am I comfortable installing new software or would I prefer to use a web service?
Do I need a service that will help train my patients on how to use the platform?
Would my practice benefit from additional features like patient surveying?
Do I need the platform to integrate with my practice’s EHR?
Would e-prescribing capabilities save me, and my team, administrative time?
Want to start practicing telemedicine on the side?
Maybe you want to try out being a telemedicine provider without actually implementing it in your own practice. You can do that by picking up a flexible side gig on platforms like GoodRx Care.
You decide how many hours you want to work per week. We take care of everything like maintaining the virtual platform, scheduling appointments, and making sure you get paid. You just do what you do best: take care of patients. Check out a range of employment opportunities through GoodRx Care here.
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