Telehealth, Medical Professionals and Accounting: What
You Need to Know
Covid-19 has affected almost all walks of life. It has brought turmoil to the overall economy. But in these challenging times, the medical and healthline professionals have been the frontline soldiers. They are the ones who have taken the impact upfront. Many industries have started working virtually, including healthcare professionals, keeping the social distancing in consideration wherever possible. Technology has supported the collapsing economies during covid. Healthcare professionals can also benefit from technology in order to work virtually. They can offer their services online. Before going online, these professionals must take the following points under consideration.
Patient concerns while seeking medical help virtually:
We do not know of many incidents to date where the healthcare data was hacked. Still, there is burdening anxiety and rising security concerns in patients concerning where they put their data online. HIPAA has many healthcare regulations related to telehealth that have been taken off during the Covid situation. Both the patients and the medical professionals should only use the telehealth channels’ secure systems during the process.
There are online portals exclusively designed to store patients’ data. Only such systems should be used to save a patient’s information. Video conferencing should only be done through software that offers end- to-encryption. The patients who still shy away from providing information online should be asked to visit for a face-to-face medical investigation when possible.
Not everyone is equally comfortable with and adept at using technology. Few people also have ineffective or insufficiently effective hardware to support videoconferencing. Such patients may theoretically agree that they are satisfied with getting telehealth services, but practically it is difficult for them to do so. A detailed video can guide such patients to understand the complete procedure. Patience is imperative with such patients as they find their way through the difficulties they encounter.
Possible medical services offered online:
Providing virtual healthcare services may have a limited scope because of its very nature. It is limited to general consultation or refills only. The regular patients may also avail telehealthcare facilities to discuss their current conditions and for refills. If a patient has a medical emergency or seeks medical help of sensitive nature, the professionals should guide him to seek in-person help from a practitioner. Most
states allow healthcare professionals to provide medical help of urgent nature to the patients, and it is still difficult for the professionals for obvious reasons.
Health and Malpractice Insurance concerns:
Most of the insurance policies do not cover virtual healthcare consultancy. It is a major factor taken under consideration by the patients that either their insurance policy covers the telehealthcare visits or not. Their decision to opt or not to opt for a telehealth facility depends upon the answer. Keeping the books is also quite challenging for health professionals. Waiting for the customers or the insurance companies to clear the bills and keeping track of the new billing codes complicate the procedure. The good thing is you can easily outsource bookkeeping to savvy tax consultants.
All the malpractice insurances do not cover Telehealthcare. This is why doctors have to be cautious about it. The malpractice insurance providers should be called and inquired about the coverage of telehealth facilities. In case of a negative response, they should be asked to upgrade their policy to include virtual healthcare.
The modern bookkeeping solutions:
Your clinic might be a small business in the industry, but for us, at AKIF CPA, we understand how BIG an impact small businesses could create. We strive to provide you with the best and most effective bookkeeping solutions. Our expertise lies in outsourcing accounting services, particularly for optometrists and other similar professions. Feel free if you need to put the accounting load off your shoulders. We shall be glad to guide you with ease to the best of our professional billing and bookkeeping services.
