BodySite Launches Group Telemedicine Visits for Virtual Patient Care

What are Group Visits?

Simply put, group visits consist of a physician and/or healthcare provider evaluating and educating multiple patients at once in a group setting. These patients often have the same medical condition.

Also known as a shared medical appointment, the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation (AAFP) cites that “these visits are voluntary for patients and provide a secure but interactive setting in which patients have improved access to their physicians…and can share experiences and advice with one another.” What that means for you is that you can guide patients in groups and bill for / charge each of them separately. In other words, more revenue for less time.*

What Constitutes a Group?

Two or more could be considered a group visit, however, according to the Cleveland Clinic in “a typical [group visit], 10 to 15 patients are seen together in a setting that encourages asking questions, and sharing concerns and experiences. Patients learn from the healthcare team and from each other in this environment”

Benefits of Group Visits

Reducing Stress / Loneliness

Dr. Jefferey Geller, nicknamed the godfather of Group Visits divulged on the Evolution of Medicine Functional Forum Podcast that the reason he started instituting group visits was to reduce stress and loneliness. Geller contends “When you reduce stress, people feel special and invested in cared for, which is what reducing loneliness does. It treats the medical illness…So I was able to take that study on loneliness and turn it into real medical care, and often treating loneliness gives you better results than any medication out there”

Time

Group visits are a great alternative to a one-on-one visit for a variety of reasons. One of the largest constraints of one-on-one visits for both the provider and the patient is time. Patients know how frustrating it can be to wait for the provider only to have about 15 minutes of their time, with a group visit the patient has much more time to ask questions and to learn about how to improve their condition.

Greater Education

Patients sometimes struggle with preparing what questions to ask about their condition, the benefit of a group visit is that the provider has pre-prepared educational material to review during the session. And with a greater time allowance, the provider can cover more material overall.

Shared Experiences

Patients can greatly benefit from the other patients in the session. Other patients often raise great questions about their own experience that is relatable to others. They may pose questions that the other patients never thought to ask. Moreover, patients sometimes feel more comfortable knowing that they are not the only one who may be experiencing similar symptoms, setbacks, or concerns.

Implementing Virtual Group Visits in a Post-Pandemic Environment

As the world begins to open up, patients and providers alike are re-strategizing how to best care for patients both in-person and virtually. Many are still hesitant to gather in what might be considered a large group setting especially if they’re considered at high-risk for COVID-19, are unable or having opted out of receiving the vaccine, uncomfortable etc. Luckily, modern medicine now includes the vital virtual components that have allowed practices to operate safely and remotely.

BodySite’s Latest Solution: Remote Group Visits

In addition to BodySite’s remote patient guidance, monitoring, tracking and more, we’ve now expanded our Telehealth Virtual Clinic services to include Group Visits. Another great way to deliver better care to patients, save our providers time with easy schedules and generate more revenue for your practice.

And BodySite is proud to be the leader of group visits in that we facilitate groups of up to 50 while other telemedicine platforms limit it to 10-15.

To use the BodySite’s telemedicine Virtual Clinic group visit feature, do the following:

(1) Make sure that your Virtual Clinic is turned on. If you don’t know how to turn on your Virtual Clinic or need assistance learning how to use the basic Virtual Clinic functionality, go here.

(2) Click on the “Virtual Clinic” in the navigation toolbar of your BodySite account

(3) From your Virtual Clinic page, select +Start a Group Visit Now or Schedule a Group Visit

(4) If you chose Start a Group Visit Now, you’ll automatically land in your group visit. From there, you’ll be able to invite people (you can invite current patients, patients by plan or everyone in your practice). Alternatively, copy the link in the top righthand corner to invite anyone (including those that aren’t currently patients).

(5) If you chose Schedule a Group Visit, set the Group Visit Name and choose a date/time for the visit, then click Schedule Group Visit. Once it’s scheduled, you’ll see the visit listed under “Upcoming Group Visits.” You can click Share to copy the URL, share to Facebook or invite participants.

(6) Click on Copy URL to copy the scheduled visit’s URL so you can share via email, on social media etc. Click on Share to Facebook to post it directly to your Facebook page. Or select Invite Participants to invite patients individually, by plan or all of your patients.

(7) You can Start or Delete the scheduled visit under the “Upcoming Group Visits” list once it’s scheduled. Note: Patients will only see the First Name and Last Initial of the other patients in the visit during group visits.

Stay tuned for feature updates to our group visit functionality as well roll them out! Interested in getting started? BodySite is offering a one month free trial with complete access to its patient care guidance and monitoring solution that is branded for your office. Or sign up for a no obligation demo of the solution to see how it all works. If you’re already a client of BodySite’s, Group Visits are already available inside your account an included in your subscription.

 

SOURCES:
https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/shared-medical-appointments.html
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/patients/information/shared-medical-appointments
https://functionalforum.com/podcasts/podcast-group-visit-series-part-1-lessons-from-two-decades-of-group-visits

*Be sure to check with your billing expert on billing requirements for group visits.