Making It Easy
The best therapy and counseling offices are looking at how to leverage modern technology to help make it easier for clients to interact with their providers. Why? Well, it just makes sense.
Online counseling is a major trend that is happening right now for a number of reasons. It does away with certain fundamental obstacles to good care and patient interactions. Professionals are looking very closely at how to tie this capability into their business models, and not just because of covid, although the pandemic certainly did bring a whole range of challenges to in-person businesses of all kinds. Here are some of the other reasons to pursue an online model as an option for your patients.
Scheduling, Etc.
Obviously, online counseling makes it easy to schedule sessions and eliminates the need for patients to manage transportation. So if someone can't simply jump in the car at any time of the day or week, online counseling is creating unique synergies in how they interact with their provider.
However, it also helps to avoid the kinds of anxiety and alienation that people feel in a modern provider office. Waiting with a receptionist for a doctor can be a very stressful experience, and online service helps take care of those barriers as well.
Is There a Disconnect?
Naysayers would imagine that “you just can't do” these types of interactive services over Zoom or Microsoft Teams or whatever videoconferencing equipment an office chooses.
The reality is that this can be an adequate way to interact with clients, especially if the provider puts some effort into making themselves accessible this way. Doctors who are on the vanguard of using online counseling models for patient interactions understand how to position themselves for good clear communication over the web!
Privacy and Security
You might also think that online counseling models would jeopardize the privacy and security of connections, but in so many cases, it actually does the opposite.
In even a small office, there are all sorts of logistics in keeping all patient interactions completely private. A door might not be fully closed, or there might be issues with stray paperwork being accessed in an unauthorized way.
By contrast, when you have a platform that is fully HIPAA compliant, you can use that platform over and over again with no concern for any types of privacy or security violations.
These are some of the reasons why so many doctors have chosen to pursue online counseling for their practices. Think about how this might work well for your office.