I’ve been a Telemedicine user for several years now and have used various systems along the way. I strongly believe Telemedicine complements one’s medical practice and doctors should explore this frontier of medicine.
Nevertheless it is a technological hurdle as doctors and patients alike have to grapple with new technology and there is a learning curve.
I have found that systems which require patients to register and install an app, makes it a little more difficult to implement as patients have to go through the process of downloading, installing the mobile app and then having to register for the Telemedicine service .
Using third party Telemedicine services also puts one at the mercy of terms and conditions of use and some services charge doctors as well as patients in order to use the Telemedicine facility.
I came across doxy.me (“doc see me”) , a unique Telemedicine service which is amazingly simple to use. There is no need to download and install any app and it works with any modern browser, be it a smartphone browser like mobile Safari or Chrome on a laptop. All the patient does is to visit the Telemedicine “waiting room” link which is the format https://doxy.me/nameofdoctor , the “nameofdoctor”: being configurable by the doctor and it could you your name or practice name. The user then Checks in and waits for the doctor to enable the session.
These are the steps illustrated:
This is essentially a “face to face” telemedicine visit so you can identify the other party visually. You may also Text the patient in the same session though you cannot send attachments. In order to send or receive attachments you need to subscribe to the professional or clinic version which allows two way File transfer e.g. of lab reports.
As data is not stored in doxy.me this further enhances security and HIPAA compliance.
Other advantages of the Professional or Clinic versions over the basic free version:
You get a Screenshare option. This is useful if you are trying to explain something to a patient visually.
You get notifications by text and not just email when someone is in the waiting room.
Group-calls (you can add up to 10 participants). This is handy for family conferences for instance.
You can edit your “Waiting room” with logos, videos and customisable text.
In call billing – this links to the Stripe payment system
I have used Doxy.me for over a month now and I find the Professional plan well worth the price. The audio video sessions are smooth over 4g and as an iPhone user I can connect with patients on the go with mobile Safari. I much prefer the big screen though, so as far as possible I use my laptop Chrome browser (on a Chromebook, the Asus Flip C434).
Why is this different from say Facetime or Zoom you say? Well, there is no need to use any apps, there is no need to reveal your private mobile number, the HIPAA compliance and customisable Waiting room makes it medically suitable compared to other “generic” audio video communication tools. Just provide your unique link to your patients and that’s it!
If you are new to Telemedicine, I recommend you try out Doxy.me if you want to try out Face To Face audio video Telemedicine. The basic plan is Free so there is nothing to lose. Head over to Doxy.me and check them out.