What Do I need? Get Started with Your Telehealth Triage Service
Running a telehealth triage line is a fast paced, break-neck business. There are many tools to help manage the responsibilities which come with it, some better than others. How do you decide which solution works better? How much is it? How will my coworkers use it? How much training time is needed? Each of these questions has a real world cost. On-Call Hub is one such solution for tracking triage encounters, whether through a service provider or directly in a practice. What sort of questions do you need to answer to get started? Let's take a look.
What are your goals? This is an important question for any telehealth provider. What does success look like for you and your organization? For some, it may be providing the best possible patient care. For others, it could be reducing the number of missed appointments or no-shows. It's important to have a metric by which you can measure success by. Tracking encounters and customer satisfaction may give your tangible goals to reach (call volume per month, average time per encounter, or 99% approval rate for examples).
What do you need to know? How to use a computer and a web browser is required as well as knowledge of basic office software such as Microsoft Office. Most software will be common, but healthcare software may be a bit more esoteric. Do not be surprised to encounter Virtual Private Networks (VPN) or have the need to install software.
What do you need to bring? You need to be a licensed RN in the US with an active license in good standing. You also must have completed telehealth training from an accredited program. This is a basic requirement for anyone wanting to be a nurse, and that applies to telehealth nursing providers as well.
What do you need to know? If applicable, you'll need to understand how to navigate the electronic health record (EHR) system that your organization uses. EHRs for providers can vary widely, however there are a few main competitors (ex. Epic, Cerner, Allscripts). You should also be familiar with on-call protocols and have a general understanding of how telehealth works. The Schmitt-Thompson nurse triage protocols are a set of protocols almost tailor made for telehealth nurses. Providers such as ClearTriage can make it extremely easy to use these. If you and your providers have not decided on an EHR and protocols, this should be top priority.
Training can be a painful time sink to some. Minimizing the time investment is key. Using common tools such as Microsoft Office is helpful, however some more in-depth healthcare software may need specialized training to use effectively. Plan accordingly. Some solutions may come with detailed training documents and videos to help you on your journey.
On-Call Hub is a triage encounter manager to be used in conjunction with other solutions, pairing well with most EHRs, a customizable API, and having integration with ClearTriage. After choosing protocols, you should finalize your workflow and triage questionnaire. This includes how calls are taken, phone numbers, escalation protocols, and on-call scheduling. The questions posed to patients will be used to customize your nurses' electronic form to fit your workflow.
After all this is complete, you're ready to start using On-Call Hub! Answer these questions and you'll be on your way to streamlining your telehealth operation in no time. If you need help along the way, our team is more than happy to chat and answer any questions you may have. Give us a call or use the Contact form below!
