Printable/PDF: Nice Speech Lady Technology Check Topics List
Nice Speech Lady Technology Check Topics List:
Hybrid or telepractice-only practices often have utilize a screening process to determine eligibility for a service delivery format for virtual visits.
Included is a guide: A clinician-standpoint topics list for a “technology check” for a virtual visit.
Clinicians can utilize this tools in order to structure the “technology check” process.
A. Verify the patient’s name/DOB.
B. Discuss with the patient/care-partner the full purposes of the technology check.
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- Introduce each other/”establish a face with the name,”
- Discuss needs for services,
- Ensure eligibility for clinical needs to be met virtually at the same quality as in-person,
- Verify the WIFI or other internet connection is adequate,
- Discuss the process for support in the event for a need for troubleshooting,
- Provide an opportunity for questions from the patient/care-partner.
C. Showing/demonstrating the anatomy of the technology tools for virtual visits:
- Identify and discuss the various technology tools in your platforms in general,
- Practice using the chat feature,
- Demonstrate and ask them to practice muting and unmuting,
- Demonstrate and ask them to practice turning the camera off and on,
- Show them your different camera views:
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- “Face cam” (traditional face-forward view)
- “Hand cam” (document camera view),
- “Mouth cam” (different login of clinician for viewing the clinician’s oral motor details, for modeling)
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- Share that you might share your screen for videos, games, etc.
D. Have a visual signal established in the event they cannot hear you, for alerting you that troubleshooting needs to occur (or that the chat feature could be used in this instance).
E. Other technical details include:
- Verifying devices are functioning, fully charged/connected to a power source,
- Ensuring cameras are functioning as intended, and/or provide instructions on how to re-position them — to meet needs of the visit,
- Checking the video quality and initiate requests for adjusting lighting factors, if appropriate,
- Monitoring for stability of the internet connection, for both sides.
- Verifying speakers and microphones’ quality (can all participants adequately communicate with each other), including headset factors.
F. Review the details of your company’s policy for supervision requirements for minors, or for adults who require assistance (for liability, safety, effectiveness and trouble-shooting purposes).
G. Determine if the patient has the attention skills to be able to effectively participate in a video visit.
H. Determine if the patient or their care-partner has the basic ability to troubleshoot and follow directions in terms of technology literacy and knowledge. Or, if education needs to occur or if workarounds would need to be explored in this pursuit.
I. Review that a quiet area needs to be utilized for the visit. Share that a reduction in distractions is optimal for participation. Inform the patient/care-partner that visits cannot occur in a public place where others would see or hear the content.
J. Make sure that if they desire to have the visit away from home, the patient or care-partner will need to communicate the address of their location. Inform the patient and care-partner that you will request the physical address of their location, and explain that this is required to be listed in the encounter note, for reimbursement purposes (to be assured licensure laws for telepractice are being followed).
K. Inform them that troubleshooting may need to occur if a signal if not effective.
- Troubleshooting Tips: Offer basic/simple troubleshooting tips in case they encounter issues (e.g., refreshing the browser, checking internet connection), if needed.
- Other workarounds could possibly be:
- Muting of the clinician and the patient/care-partner, and then the clinician will call the patient on the phone (speakerphone access). This will allow the reduction of the signal (would be video only for the platform, and not both video and audio) — so to allow for a better video quality,
- Clinician or patient switching wifi options — or using a backup hotspot, etc.
- If weather factors affect either the SLP’s signal or the patient’s signal, there may need to do some steps to attempt to address this, such as:
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- Logging back in or out, or
- The provider or patient utilizing a different browser,
- Turning off the device and starting fresh again,
- Rescheduling, if all measures are not effective.
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L. Discuss housekeeping details, such as:
- Plans for the full evaluation (date/time),
- Other scheduling parameters (follow-up/standing visit appointments),
- Insurance and patient responsibility factors (plans for good faith estimate),
- If hybrid visits might be indicated, or solely-virtual visits,
- If pre-auth is required and how may impact the flow of visits,
- Consent form protocol processes,
- Home practice protocols,
- Requests for logins prior to the start time prior to the official visit appointment time,
- Using the portal for sharing of documents, messaging, updates to insurance, physical addresses, phone numbers, emails,
- Discuss how to receive visit links in the future (portal vs. manually sent-links),
- Sharing with the patient/family that a a desktop or tablet is recommended instead of solely phone use (for the benefit of seeing all of the provider’s camera views),
- Having a phone handy, if the chat or audio on the video call are not allowing communication,
- Discuss how to contact support staff if there are technical difficulties during the visit, or prior,
- Discuss the clinic’s protocol for the family’s request for others to join the call.
- How to reach the clinician or clinic between visits:
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- Using a portal for secure messaging,
- Emailing via a HIPAA-compliant platform, or
- Calling the clinic front office team member to relay a message to you.
- Other means.
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- How to inform the clinician if they need to cancel or reschedule,
- Any other housekeeping details.
M. Ask them if they have any questions, or would like to share any data/fill you in any content.
N. Confirm the time/date of the initial evaluation visit with the patient/care-partner; or, at least discuss a plan for moving forward.
Notes: ________________________________________________________________________
I hope this is helpful to you, and thanks for visiting.
Wilson Nice is the owner of Nice Speech Lady, a medical SLP platform for functional, practical and evidence-based SLP resources.
Nice has been publishing complimentary tools for SLPs since February of 2018.
She currently serves patients at her hybrid clinic in Socorro, New Mexico, Nice Speech Lady.
