Offering counseling via telehealth is an excellent way to bring quality care to your patients across the country. Telehealth provides you freedom from geographic constraints, allowing for more flexibility than traditional office-based therapy. It also enables service providers to work efficiently and reduce overhead costs while providing services that would not otherwise be possible without technology. With telehealth options becoming more prevalent in the industry, you need to understand your legal requirements to provide high-quality services to your clients.
There are many ways that you can take advantage of telehealth practice models. Here are eight ways you can benefit from telehealth as a flexible therapist.
#1. Handle Multiple Clients With Ease
While traditional therapy requires face-to-face interaction between a client and counselor, telehealth makes counseling easier. Using the Telehealth platform, a therapist can choose to conduct individual sessions while simultaneously having remote counseling conversations with multiple clients throughout the day. This type of practice allows the therapist to utilize their time wisely and effectively improve productivity.
Being a flexible therapist allows you to serve clients on both in-person and online platforms. It allows for flexible scheduling and removes geographic barriers that might prevent or hinder your patient’s access. And because of this, more people than ever before can receive the help they need without driving long distances to their counselor.
#2. Expand Your Practice Through Virtual Counseling
Telehealth allows you to expand into areas of the country where you may not have been able to do so if you were confined to one location. If you live in a rural area or have limited resources in nearby cities, telehealth will allow you to provide patients with services that they may have never had access to. As a result, telehealth expands the reach of mental health care, providing access to low-income populations and underserved communities.
#3. Increase Your Clientele By Offering More Sessions Online
Using telehealth, you can increase your exposure to prospective new clients by offering them virtual sessions instead of requiring them to travel out of town. You can offer these sessions as part of your business model or simply as an opportunity to introduce yourself to potential patients. Either way, you’ll be able to grow your client base and develop relationships with new clients.
The longer someone spends receiving treatment, the better chance they can improve. By expanding your availability through telehealth, your patients will spend more time getting the help they need. Having additional time for each session will create more positive outcomes and increase retention rates for those seeking services.
#4. Enhance The Patient Experience
Many patients prefer the distance of telehealth due to the perception associated with seeking mental health care services. However, many find that speaking privately with their therapist helps them gain insight into specific issues they would otherwise not want to share publicly. By offering virtual counseling sessions, you give patients the ability to feel more comfortable discussing sensitive topics without feeling judged or discriminated against.
A study published in Jama Network found that “video communication is associated with higher patient understanding and satisfaction compared with telephone communication.” If patients can talk openly about their emotions and concerns during an initial visit, they will likely seek further treatment when necessary. This is particularly important to consider in primary care settings as these visits often include some form of screening.
#5. Add Value To The Patient Experience
Here at SecureVideo, we have built a HIPAA-Compliant videoconferencing platform designed to provide secure access to real-time audio and video web meetings, screen share presentations, patient portals, electronic health records (EHR), and other features.
Our platform offers patient portals and electronic medical record integration tools, allowing patients to connect with their clinicians via secure messaging. Because of telehealth technology, patients can get personalized information tailored to their needs, allowing them to stay updated on what to expect during their appointment.
Our platform helps patients manage appointments on their own, reduces the amount of time they spend traveling, and provides personalized data that helps them feel more informed about how they are doing with their healthcare providers. This means less stress and more peace of mind for patients who want to know exactly what to expect from their next visit.
#6. Offer Alternative Modes of Treatment
Many forms of therapy require a high level of client compliance. For example, cognitive-behavioral therapy calls for regular attendance at prescribed sessions. In contrast, telehealth offers flexibility by allowing clients to receive treatment on their terms. They can choose when and where they communicate with their therapists. This allows clients to comply and follow through with the treatment plan while still maintaining healthy lifestyles outside of the home.
#7. Allow Clients to Work While Receiving Therapy
Many people struggle with finding ways to balance work and life when it comes to psychotherapy. With telehealth, clients don’t have to worry about missing appointments or having to rearrange schedules. Instead, they can continue working while receiving treatment from a distance. Telehealth provides a way to offer therapy while allowing clients to live their best lives.
How Telehealth Can Help Your Practice
Telehealth was designed by therapists and for therapists. It provides tools to deliver effective therapy anywhere, anytime, without sacrificing quality or convenience.
Telehealth has many benefits, including reducing administrative tasks, improving customer service, offering alternative modes of treatment, lowering overhead costs, decreasing time requirements, and more. If you want to make significant changes to your business model, consider adding telehealth to your practices!
How Can I Use Telemental Health in My Practice?
You may use telemental health via SecureVideo to provide evidence-based therapies, such as CBT, EMDR, DBT, ACT, etc., to patients who cannot access mental and behavioral health care due to socio-cultural, economic, and physical barriers or other reasons.
SecureVideo offers a cloud-based videoconferencing platform helping therapists connect with patients in real-time over secure connections. Using this technology, you can easily create individualized sessions that help patients better understand themselves and better control their mental health issues. We provide a highly secure solution that enables therapists to transmit patient files securely, synchronize effortlessly with your EMR/EHR system, and provide an excellent experience for patients.
If your goal is to build a successful practice by becoming a counselor willing to work with folks regardless of income or location, telehealth should be a top priority.
Telemental health can supplement traditional mental health services and even replace some when necessary. It can give access to mental health providers to treat various forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and other therapeutic techniques in both adults and children.
When we think of telehealth, we often talk about how it can improve access to care, but we tend to ignore what its potential impacts can do for businesses. Nowadays, more than ever before, businesses are striving to become more efficient. Telehealth presents a new option for companies looking to streamline operations and save money.
If you’re interested in exploring the possibilities of telemental health services, check out our product features. You’ll find everything you need to integrate telehealth into your practice today!
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