4 steps to follow when implementing telehealth at your practice.
Want to make it easier for pet owners to stay connected to your veterinary practice? Telehealth appointments can expand the reach and appeal of your services. Here’s what you’ll need to consider:
Step 1: Know Your Practice Act
Each state has its own Veterinary Practice Act, with its own rules regarding the veterinary-client-patient-relationship (VCPR). Most states require you to establish a valid VCPR before practicing telehealth.
COVID and quarantines may have temporarily changed your state’s approach to the VCPR to make it easier for pet owners to seek remote veterinary care during the pandemic. Revisit your practice act to check your state’s most current procedures for implementing telehealth as a service. To learn more and to search for your state’s most recent rules and any updates, visit avma.org
Step 2: Choose a Platform
There are various ways to implement veterinary telehealth, from Facetime or occasionally texting with clients to subscribing to a third-party platform that will help you schedule and collect payments for fully virtual visits.
Step 3: Choose a Scheduling Timeframe and Fee Model
Whatever variety of telehealth you decide to offer at your practice, think through up front how you’ll schedule your virtual services—and how you’ll charge for them. It may be beneficial to build your times out in 10-minute increments, so you’ll have the most flexibility when it comes to virtual appointment scheduling. Telehealth: 2021, a publication of Well-Managed Practice Benchmarks (WMPB), found that most virtual visits range from 15 to 30 minutes, with average fees ranging from $44 to $64.
Step 4: Be Prepared for a Variety of Needs
Telehealth can be so much more than medical progress recheck appointments. In fact, WMPB reported that more than 23% of telehealth appointments were for sick pets, and almost 17% were cases where the clients weren’t sure whether or not their pets needed to be seen by a veterinarian. Consider using telehealth to round out your in-person quality of life consultations, behavior consults, puppy and kitten educational talks—and to make your practice more relevant and convenient for today’s pet owners.