PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Spring 2020 - 28

Steps to Implement
Telemedicine
Services in Your
Practice
Content printed with permission from AVMA.org

When implemented properly, telemedicine may improve patient
triage and clinical outcomes, and benefit patients, animal
owners and the veterinary practice. From improving after-hours
or hospice care, to making it easier for busy clients to arrange
routine checkups and follow-up care for pets, telemedicine
offers opportunities to increase access to and utilization of
veterinary care - improving the quality of care for patients.
Follow these steps to implement telehealth successfully in your
practice.

1. Know the rules
You might already have ideas about how you'd like to
incorporate telemedicine into your veterinary practice. Even
if that's the case, it's critical that you first familiarize yourself
with the rules that govern telehealth, including the legal and
regulatory landscape. Not only will this help protect you and
your patients; it also will ensure you don't spend valuable time
pursuing a program that will not be legal in your locality. Start
here:
* Familiarize yourself with the AVMA policy on telemedicine:
bit.ly/avma-telemed.
* Understand how the VCPR and licensing requirements
apply to virtual care: https://bit.ly/avma-vcpr-telehealth.
* Review your state, territory, or country resources to learn
the rules and regulations that apply in your area, especially
related to:
o Veterinary practice act: bit.ly/avma-st-loc-advocacy
o Pharmacy act: bit.ly/avma-pharm-vacc-issues
o Licensure: bit.ly/aavsb-license
o Record retention: bit.ly/avma-records
o Patient confidentiality
* Understand basic definitions and get answers to common
questions: The basics of veterinary telehealth - bit.ly/avmatelehealth-basics.

28 | Keystone Veterinarian

2. Define your service offering
Once you understand the rules and regulations that apply to
telemedicine, you're ready to decide on the type(s) of services
you want to implement. You might consider ways to improve
your clients' experience for after-hours care; improve follow-up
care for post-surgical rechecks; or make it easier to check in on
patients receiving hospice care. There are myriad options.

3. Check your liability
In most instances there are no additional liability coverage
requirements for veterinary practices that offer telehealth
or telemedicine services. But it's wise to check with your
professional liability carrier for any additional recommendations
pertaining to telehealth services. If you get your liability
insurance through AVMA PLIT, you can start on the PLIT website:
bit.ly/avma-plit-liability.

4. Evaluate technology and service providers
Different telemedicine services require different types of
hardware, software and back-office support. You might be
comfortable adding some services on your own and tracking
and billing them manually. In fact, some veterinarians offer
connected care services using technology that already exists
in the practice, such as smartphones. Others use a third-party
partner to simplify and expedite the process.
If you are considering partnering with a telehealth service
provider to support your offering, it's important to understand
each provider's capabilities and limitations. These AVMAexclusive tools can help:
* Veterinary connected care providers: Download our handy
chart to compare offerings of various companies that
provide connected care services. (Note: Offerings are
evolving quickly during the COVID-19 outbreak, so this
information is subject to change.) Get the chart here:
bit.ly/avma-connected-care.

http://www.AVMA.org http://www.bit.ly/avma-plit-liability http://www.bit.ly/avma-telemed https://www.bit.ly/avma-vcpr-telehealth http://www.bit.ly/avma-st-loc-advocacy http://www.bit.ly/avma-pharm-vacc-issues http://www.bit.ly/aavsb-license http://www.bit.ly/avma-records http://www.bit.ly/avma-connected-care http://bit.ly/avma- telehealth-basics

PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Spring 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Spring 2020