You can start a video call with a patient either using the PATCHS or Docman toolbar. You can also initiate a video call from the request details page when managing a request.
Video calling works with both smartphones (via SMS and email) and with desktops (via email).
You can video call any patient on your practice list irrespective of whether they have registered for a PATCHS account.
[We would advise any practices not using the PATCHS toolbar, or using the Docman Toolbar without Patient Sync, to contact us to upgrade to these functionalities. Otherwise you will need to manually create non-registered patients.]
Video calling from the Toolbar
You can video call a patient using the PATCHS or Docman toolbar, depending on which one is in use at your practice.
From the toolbar, click on the video camera icon:
| PATCHS Toolbar | Docman Toolbar |
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And you will be taken to the Patient details page in PATCHS, for the patient currently loaded in the clinical system. From here you can invite your patient to a video call.
On the Patient page, 'Video call patient' will be pre-selected and you should click the 'Send invitation' button.
By default this will send an email to the patient with a secure link to the video consultation.
(This reduces SMS costs to the practice and supports patients who are using a computer rather than a smart phone.)
If you want to send the secure link via SMS, tick the 'Send as SMS' box.
Once the invitation has been sent to the patient, you will be taken to the video consultation page, from where you can join the call.
Video calling a patient using a one-off email address or mobile number
If your non-digital patient doesn't have a regular email address or mobile telephone number you can still initiate a video consultation.
Video calling a patient with a one-off email address
If your patient doesn't have a regular email address you should add the one-time email address to their patient details before initiating the video consultation:
Add a one-time email address - and save.
From the patient details page you will then be able to video call the patient, with the invitation being sent to the (just added) email address.
Having completed the video consultation, if the email address isn't to be used for future PATCHS communications, you should remove it from the patient details.
Video calling a patient with a one-off mobile number
If you want to send the video invitation to a number other than their usual mobile number you can update the 'Send as SMS to' mobile number before sending the invitation.
The video call invitation will be sent to the 'Send as SMS to' mobile number, but this number WILL NOT replace the patient's regular mobile number in PATCHS.
Video calling from a patient request
You can also video call a patient when reviewing and managing a patient request.
From the request details page, navigate to the 'Video' tab, then click the 'Video call patient' button.
By default this will send an email to the patient with a secure link to the video consultation.
(This reduces SMS costs to the practice and supports patients who are using a computer rather than a smart phone.)
If you want to send the secure link via SMS, tick the 'Send as SMS' box.
This will take you to the video consultation page from where you can join the call.
During the video call
You will be taken to the video consultation page where you can meet with the patient. The patient will be held in a virtual waiting room until you are ready.
The patient will appear in the main screen, and you will see yourself in the small window in the top right corner. You can mute yourself, turn off the camera and end the consultation using the blue buttons.
You can make notes or message the patient with links or attachments by having the Patient page open on another browser tab at the same time. [This information will be filed to the clinical system in the standard way for messaging.]
To complete a request you click the 'End' button to stop the video consultation, which will take you to the 'Consultation Ended' page:
If you click 'Consultation completed' you will see screen below, and the video consultation will automatically be coded in the clinical system.
If you click 'Consultation unsuccessful' this you will see the following screen and no codes will be saved to the clinical system:
What the patient sees
The patient will receive an email or SMS (depending on your choice) with a secure link to the video consultation.
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The patient will then click on the link to load the video consultation in their internet browser.
To access the video consultation they will need to provide a bit of extra information to verify their identity:
- If they are a registered PATCHS user they will need to log in.
- If they are a non-PATCHS user they will just need to confirm the date of birth.
The patient will then be held in a waiting room until you are ready for the video consultation.
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