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Preparing for telehealth appointments

Navami
Updated

You can take steps to prepare for a telehealth appointment to make sure things go smoothly for you and your clients. It's important to set up your environment to reduce distractions and verify that your technology is updated and working well. 

In this guide, we'll cover:

Preparing your environment

To prepare your environment for successful video appointments:

  • Identify a place that's quiet, private, and free of distractions.
  • To keep background noise to a minimum, close any doors and shut any windows. Consider hanging a “Do not disturb” sign on any doors to avoid interruptions.
  • Before each appointment, check what’s in the client’s field of vision and remove clutter and unnecessary objects. 
  • When designing your telehealth room, pay attention to furniture placement, lighting, acoustics, and wall color.
    • Wall color
      • If the wall color is too light, the camera lets in less light, resulting in darkened faces. If the wall color is too dark, the camera lets in more light, making faces look washed out or too light.
      • If you can, try to choose a flat paint color in gray or light blue to avoid any reflection off the wall.
    • Lighting
      • Make sure your light source is in front of your face, not behind you.
      • Avoid harsh lighting sources, as well as backlighting from windows or overhead lights.
    • Eye contact
      • External cameras should be mounted so that both participants are looking directly at each other during a video appointment. If the camera is placed too high above the monitor, you’ll appear to be looking down at the monitor instead of directly at the client.
      • It can be distracting for clients when the clinician doesn't maintain eye contact because they’re looking at another screen or taking notes. It’s a good practice to be mindful of this and explain to clients when looking away may be necessary.

Checking your technology

When you start to offer telehealth appointments, it’s important to check your technology before your first appointment. To do this:

  • Your device
    • Make sure you have an up-to-date computer or mobile device with a high-quality camera, microphone, and speakers
      • Newer devices (purchased in the last two years) will be better equipped for telehealth
    • Make sure your operating system and browser are on the latest version
  • Internet speed
    • Test your internet connection using a Speed Test
      • We recommend a minimum of 10 mbps for the best quality

Note: If multiple clinicians in your practice will be holding telehealth appointments simultaneously, we recommend working with your internet service provider to increase your internet package. For multiple clinicians, a bandwidth of at least 35 mbps, but preferably more, is recommended.

Testing call quality

When you've scheduled your first appointment with the Video Office location selected, or have switched to a new internet browser, you’ll be prompted to Test call quality. 

To test your the quality of your upcoming telehealth call:

  1. Click Run test
Telehealth interface showing the Test call quality screen with a Run test button.
  1. Select Get started
  2. Follow each step to receive a report about your connection and call quality
  3. Click the X in the top right corner at any time to exit

Telehealth call quality test window with an X close icon in the top right corner.

If you exit from the test before completing it, you won’t be prompted to test call quality again. However, you can choose to test this  before starting a telehealth appointment. 

To do this, click Test call quality when you join your telehealth appointment.

Telehealth join screen showing a Test call quality option before starting the video appointment.

After checking your call quality, you can select Start video appointment to proceed with the call.

Tip: If you're having trouble with a telehealth appointment, share a screenshot of your Speed Test results when submitting a help request so that we can better assist you.

Starting a telehealth appointment

Tip: Before your first appointment, we recommend holding a practice telehealth appointment. Ask a friend if you can send them a link to join an appointment and test the video platform.

To join a telehealth call on a computer, you and your client can click the telehealth appointment’s unique link.

For the clinician

  1. Create a new appointment and select Telehealth: Video Office as the Location

Appointment creation screen showing Telehealth: Video Office selected as the Location.

  1. When you're ready to start the appointment, select the appointment from your calendar
  2. Click Start video appointment to launch telehealth in a new browser tab

Appointment flyout showing the Start video appointment button.

  1. Enter your name 

Telehealth join screen with a name entry field.

  1. Click Start video appointment

When an attendee joins or leaves a telehealth appointment, a chime sound will play to notify you. There's no way to turn this sound off.

Note: If you’d like to change a non-telehealth appointment to telehealth, change the Location to Video Office and click Done in the appointment flyout. Clicking Done will save this change, so that the appointment is updated properly and the client receives the video appointment link via email. To learn more, see Editing an appointment.

For the client

As long as reminders are enabled for a client, they’ll receive an email and/or text reminder containing the telehealth appointment link 10 minutes before the start time. The exact time the client receives the reminder may vary based on their cell phone carrier.

Note: To learn more, see How to set up appointment and time of scheduling reminders.

When the client selects the telehealth appointment link, it’ll open in a new tab in their web browser (if they’re on a computer) or in the Telehealth by SimplePractice mobile app (if they’re on a mobile device). They’ll need to enter their name in order to join the call.

Tip: For step-by-step instructions you can share with clients, see Joining a Telehealth appointment from a computer and Joining a Telehealth appointment from a smartphone or tablet.

The link to join the call is unique, so it can't be bookmarked and reused for each telehealth appointment. The link expires 30 minutes after the end of the appointment. This means that clients can't rejoin a call using the same link after that time has elapsed. If your appointment goes past the 30-minute mark, you can continue to hold the call as long as neither party gets disconnected or leaves.

Note: If your appointment goes longer than 30 minutes after the appointment end time and your client gets disconnected from the call, you can extend the duration of the telehealth appointment on your calendar. This allows the client to rejoin the call using the same link.

When your client opens their telehealth link, they'll need to enter their name in order to join the call. Clients will also have the option to enter the address where they're currently located before joining the session. This helps you verify that you have their physical location available in case of an emergency or for insurance and licensing purposes. You’ll be able to view the address your clients enter by clicking Emergency info once the session begins. 

Entering an address is optional and won't prevent the client from joining the call. For more information to provide clients, see Entering your location. 

Important: You can only view a client’s self-reported, current location while they’re in the session. Once the client leaves, or the call ends, their location will no longer be available or stored in SimplePractice. We recommend copying and pasting this information into a location outside your telehealth session while the client is still available. If you’re not able to save this location before it’s removed, you can use Secure Messaging to verify your client’s location.

Manually sharing a telehealth appointment link

To manually share or resend the telehealth appointment link to a client:

  1. Navigate to the Calendar
  2. Select the appointment
  3. Click Share Link > Send reminder

Appointment flyout with the Share Link menu open showing the Send reminder option.

If the client has a contact with an email address or phone number with email or text reminders enabled, you can choose to manually send a reminder to their contact. If you don't want to send reminders to the client's contact(s), you can disable this. To do this:

  1. Navigate to the client Overview page > Edit
  2. Click Contacts
  3. Select the Manage > Edit Appointment Reminders
  4. Deselect the reminder types you'd like to stop sending
  5. Click Save   

If the client is having issues receiving the email with the link, you can also click Copy link to copy the link and manually send it to them by pasting it into a separate email or Secure Message.

Appointment flyout showing the Copy link option for a Telehealth appointment.

Note: If a client hasn’t consented to email or phone notifications, you can click Add consent to update their settings.Add consent prompt displayed in the appointment reminder workflow.

FAQs

How does informed consent work for telehealth?

Informed consent requirements vary by state, with some not requiring consent, others requiring verbal consent, and some requiring written consent that must be stored in the client’s record.

To find out your state’s requirements:

  1. Navigate to The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center
  2. Use the dropdown menu at the top of the page to select Consent Requirements
  3. Select your state on the map 
  4. Click Read More to see whether state law requires you to get client consent

Tip: We offer a Consent for Telehealth Consultation consent form which you can customize and share with clients through the Client Portal.

Do you have examples of informed consent documents?

Your account includes a default consent form for telehealth. Please be sure to review it very closely and customize it as needed. To learn more, see Creating a custom Consent for Telehealth Consultation form.

For sample consent forms collected from various online sources, see: 

Note: The sample consent forms linked above are for informational purposes only. It’s your practice’s responsibility to update the content to meet your specific state's requirements.

What browser versions are supported?

Telehealth by SimplePractice works on the latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Opera on computers.

For older browser versions, a dismissible warning banner is shown that requests users to update.

Important: We recommend using the most up-to-date browser version for the best telehealth experience, as using older versions can cause unpredictable behavior. See Updating your browser version to learn how to update your browser.

Will my clients have to install or download anything in order to join the session?

Your clients will be able to join the session on their computer’s browser by clicking a link you provide.

They won’t have to:

  • Download or install software or extensions
  • Enter a password or ID to access the session
  • Create an account or log into an account

You can provide telehealth links to clients by sharing them manually from the appointment on the calendar, or through email and text telehealth reminders. 

If your clients prefer to use a mobile device for their sessions, they can download the Telehealth by SimplePractice from the iOS and Android app stores.

If my client prefers to use a mobile device, is there an app they can get?

To use a mobile device, your client must first download the Telehealth by SimplePractice app, available for iOS or Android in the app store.

What if I need to offer a session to a client sooner than a reminder email/text can go out to them?

Note: To send reminders with telehealth links to clients, first check that they have reminders enabled in their profile.

If you need to offer a session sooner than a reminder can be sent out, you can manually send the telehealth appointment link from the appointment on the calendar. To do this:

  1. Schedule the appointment 
  2. Select Video Office as the location
    • Or select the custom name you may have given your Telehealth location
  3. Click Done
  4. Select the appointment to open the appointment fly-out
  5. Click Share Link > Send reminder to immediately send a reminder containing the telehealth appointment link to the client

Appointment fly-out showing the Share Link option for sending a reminder with the telehealth link.​

  •  
    • You can also select Copy link and manually send it to your client by pasting it in a separate email or Secure Message

Note: Reminders for telehealth appointments containing telehealth links are sent automatically based on the settings you have enabled for each client. These reminders are sent 24, 48, or 72 hours before the scheduled appointment. The client will also get a text reminder and/or an email reminder about 10 minutes prior to their appointment time, as long as the appointment is scheduled before the text/email reminder window. For more information, see Setting up appointment and time of scheduling reminders.

Why can't my client access their telehealth appointment using the same link from past appointments?

All telehealth appointment links expire at the end of each session. Clients won’t be able to bookmark the link to their appointments. In order for them to access the appropriate link for an upcoming telehealth appointment, they'll need to either click Join Video Call from their telehealth appointment email reminder, or click Join Video in the Upcoming appointments section in their Client Portal.

Clinicians also have the option to copy the unique telehealth link from the appointment listed on their calendar to share with their client via Secure Message, or another secure communication method.

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