Study Evaluates How to Eliminate Telemedicine’s Virtual Waiting Room

Science Daily: Study Evaluates How to Eliminate Telemedicine’s Virtual Waiting Room

A study published in Quality Management in Health Care found that text messaging provides a way to connect patients and doctors without relying on the virtual waiting room. Twenty-two patients at a stroke clinic participated in the two-and-a-half-month study. Patients chose to either receive a text, which included a visit link when their provider was ready for their visit or the standard telehealth routine of logging in at a scheduled time and waiting in front of a camera in a virtual waiting room. Results showed that zero patients were seen late, while fifty-five percent of the patients were seen early. On average, there was a 55-minute time savings in clinic operations due to patients being seen early.