Practice tip of the week: Improving virtual bedside manner
Your weekly dose of wisdom from the Physicians Practice experts.
With all the useful information available on Physicians Practice, it is easy to become overwhelmed.
With this in mind, the tip of the week is a chance to reflect on some of the wisdom found all across the site. In this December 2020 article on improving virtual bedside manner, Mark Allara, MD, gives this tip:
3. Look them in the “eyes”
Eye contact is crucial, but tricky to achieve online. Adjust your web camera so the patient’s video window is positioned to give the appearance of a face-to-face conversation while enabling you to also review their chart on your screen. To support eye contact, electronic health record (EHR) data should be integrated with the telehealth technology so you can easily refer to information without searching. Likewise, a screen-sharing capability can share exhibits, such as x-rays, labs or other information to help the patient understand their condition better and improve the overall experience.
Asking the patient more questions will likely be necessary since physical exams are more challenging. As such, don’t be afraid to creatively collaborate with patients to learn more from your visual physical exam, such as asking them to adjust their camera or perform movements or exercises that can help narrow your diagnosis. Working together you can get more out of a physical exam than you might expect. For example, on my first telehealth encounter, I asked my patient to remove his shoe and show me his gout-inflamed foot.
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