HotDoc Telehealth Video Consultations allows a practitioner to easily see and attend to patients via video call. HotDoc Telehealth Video will:

• Automatically send the patient a link to their video consult, saving your team time doing manual admin work
• Integrate with your existing HotDoc Online Bookings setup
• Integrate with a friendly and easy to use third party video platform so the patient experience is seamless

Please review the video and guide below to learn more about how to setup and activate Telehealth Video consultations.

1. What is HotDoc Telehealth Video?

HotDoc Telehealth Video is a feature that can be enabled via the Telehealth settings in your Appointment Types:

Once enabled:

• HotDoc booked appointments will give the option for a patient to choose either a phone or a video consult during booking and send a URL link for the virtual consult room after confirmation.
• Telehealth type reception booked appointments will send a confirmation email to the patient with the URL link for their virtual consult room.

The email will include the confirmation details of their booking as well as:

• Instructions on how to take part in a video consult
  
• Minimum requirements needed to be able to take part in a video consult
  
  

All your Doctors will need is:

• A computer with a web camera or their own mobile device
• Some basic internet requirements as per Whereby's recommendations. See Whereby's Network Requirements to learn more

2. The Patient Journey  

 
We understand that using a virtual consult room may be a different experience for your practitioners and patients.

Reviewing the patient journey with your team will allow you to be in control as you will always know what to expect. A strong sense of the patient journey will also enable you to educate your staff and patients, as well as preempt any concerns or questions.  

3. How to turn on Telehealth Video

HotDoc Telehealth Video is activated per appointment type in the HotDoc Dashboard.

1. Log into to your HotDoc Dashboard and navigate to Bookings > Appointment Types:
   
   
   
   
2. Scroll down to the Telehealth Settings section and select the checkbox next to Enable Telehealth Video:
   
   
   
   
3. By default, this will switch the feature on for all of your practitioners. If you wish to turn this feature on/off for a practitioner, head to Bookings > Practitioner Setup and select Edit on the specific practitioner:
   
   
   
   
4. Scroll down to Online Bookings settings and select/deselect the Accepts Video Appointments option:
   
   
   
   
5. Lastly, click the green Save button to save your change.

4. How does the Doctor start the consult?

1. Once a HotDoc booked appointment is confirmed, the unique room URL for that appointment will be written back to the appointment in the book. If the appointment is a reception booked telehealth appointment, we will also automatically create a link and write this back to the appointment details:
   
   
   
   
2. The doctor will then copy and paste the URL into an internet browser such as Google Chrome:
   
   
   
   
3. The doctor will be directed to enter your name in the box and hit Continue:
   
   
   
   
4. The browser will request access to your camera and microphone so your patient can see and hear you, select Request Permissions to allow access:
   
   
   
   Check your browser settings and unblock video and audio if you are unable to see yourself in video window. If you are unsure about how to do this please click on the relevant browser for instructions:
   
   Chrome
   Safari
   Firefox
   Edge
   
   
5. Once your camera and microphone are ready, go ahead select Join Meeting:
   
   
   
   See How to join a meeting you were invited to for more information. 
   

5. Tips for your Telehealth Video consult

Telehealth Video Consults may be a new experience for your patients. Alongside passing on this guide to the rest of your staff, we also have a few extra tips and recommendations.

To start each consultation on the best foot, we suggest creating an opening statement incorporating the points below:

1. Ask if your patient is well enough to speak with you for the next 10 or so minutes, as they'll be doing most of the talking
   
   
2. Remind the patient that not all medical issues can be solved with Telehealth. Know what your next steps would be if you need to refer a patient for an in-person appointment.
   
   
3. Written notes are the best documentation of your Telehealth Consults. Recording a health appointment, in-person or via Telehealth, is strongly advised against by the RACGP. We recommend that you have a line in your introduction to remind your patient of this.

Below are some helpful links to the RACGP guidelines for Telehealth Video consults. We recommend that you familiarise yourself with the information in these links before starting to conduct Video consults:

• Telehealth video consultations guide
• Implementation guidelines for video consultations in general practice 
• Templates and factsheets

Please also take some time to familiarise yourself with Whereby's Data Storage and Security policies should you, or the patient have any privacy queries.