Whilst we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have put together a guide for carrying out Video Consultations with Skype.
There are other solutions for video consultation such as 'Airmid' and 'accuRx'.
What do you need?
- Video camera (you could use Skype on your phone)
- Microphone and speakers
- A Skype account for the staff member conducting the consultation
- The Skype ID added to the patient record
- Permission from the practice to conduct Skype consultations
Practice Setup
Within SystmOne you will need to add 'Video Consultations' node to the clinical tree.
The practice will then have to setup each clinician with their own Skype account.
NB: This can be done as a surgery account but there is a cost to have a Skype Business account
The surgery will have to then capture and enter the patients Skype ID into the record, this can be done from the Green telephone icon, from the practice administration tree or from patient contact details.
The practice will then have to have a Camera connected to the PC, This can also be done on a laptop which usually have a camera. You can create a slot type for Skype consultation or use the system Video Consultation Slot and add this to the clinic list, from doing this the clinician will then be able to right click over the patients appointment and then select Skype.
You could still use Telephone slots or Appointment slots for this, when in the record just click Video Consultation on the clinical tree and select the icon to open Skype.
Download Skype
The practice will then have to download and install Skype in each room that you will be doing Video consultations from.
You can then open Skype from the desktop and follow through the setup instructions, if you have an account you can log straight in. If you don't have an account you will need to create one.
Patient Setup
Each patient must have a Skype account for the Video consultation to proceed. If the patient has created an account they will need to give you there Skype ID. Refer to previous screen shot to see how to enter this in there record.
The patient can access there Skype ID from clicking the profile picture and selecting Skype Profile.
Performing a Video Consultation
NB: For the video consultation to be carried out the patient must be logged into Skype.
The clinician has to have the camera on. You can then access the patients record from the Appointments screen. When in the record click on Video consultation and select the icon to start Skype.
When the Video consultation is in progress or after you can select the RED telephone icon from the patients demographics box. This will open into the Ardens Telephone consultation template. In there you have a tick Box to say Skype consultation and the normal options to record the details from the Skype. When the consultation is done you will see the consultation date/time and call duration within the Video Consultation node you just need to save the patient record.
NB: If you are struggling with Audio settings whilst in the Video call there are three dots to the bottom right of the screen, select those and pick Audio settings. Just make sure the microphone is enabled.