This article will guide you to use the Video Consultation functionality in myGP Connect.
Requirements
The following requirements need to be met to use Video Consultations:
- Remote Consultation product purchased and activated
- myGP activated
- Patients booking appointments within myGP
- The computer a user is holding Video Consultations on meets the below minimum requirements
- The patient has a smart-phone with a front-facing camera
Technical requirements
There are some technical requirements that need to be met so that you can hold a Video Consultation.
Click here to view the Video Consultation Technical Requirements.
What appointments can be held as Video Consultations
Video Consultations has been designed with flexibility in mind. We have worked hard to ensure that this product works for the different ways of working that exist in GP surgeries.
You can allow patients to book into pre-planned video Consultation slots in your Appointment Book, making these available to book in myGP. You can also generate a video consultation from any appointment that has been booked through your clinical system, however, in order for patient’s to reachable via the feature, they will need to have the myGP app installed.
As long as they have the app downloaded, you will be able to hold a Video Consultation with that patient. Once the appointment has been marked as cancelled or has gone into the past, you will no longer be able to hold a Video Consultation with that patient.
Starting a Video Consultation
To start a Video Consultation, that meets the above requirements, you will need to access the Consult tab in myGP Connect.
Use the blue Consult tab on the left hand ribbon in myGP Connect.
You will see the Consult Workflow screen appear.
For practice’s with Video Consultations enabled, you can use the Video Call column as reference to action a video consultation call.
If the patient has downloaded the app, they will see the camera icon in this column. It signifies that they are contactable via Video Consultation.
For patient’s that have not downloaded the myGP app, you will see this icon in the Video Call column instead.
This icon will allow you to send a myGP download invite to your patient. By clicking on it, you will see the following pop-up box:
To action a video call, you can directly click on the camera icon to start your Video Consultation call:
Alternatively, you can action it by clicking on the Appointment itself, this will bring you to the Appointment Detail page:
Use the Camera Icon action button displayed to the right of the patient’s name.
You will be taken to the Video Consultation screen and the patient’s phone will start ringing after a few seconds.
Please note: The first time you use this feature, your browser may ask you for permission to access your webcam and microphone. Use the Accept option to permit Video Consultations to be held. Declining will stop Video Consultations from running, and may cause the service to act with errors. Contact Support for assistance if you have disabled access to your webcam and microphone.
The patient’s details are displayed to the right of the video screen.
You will see a loading animation while the service waits for the patient to answer the call.
Once the patient has answered the call, you will see the patient to the left of the screen with yourself in the lower right of the video.
Top Tip: Video Consultation works best on computers with two screens, allowing you to have the video and the appointment details on one screen, with your clinical system running on the other screen. If you do not have this kind of setup, you may find it quicker to use the ALT+TAB keyboard shortcut to quickly move between the Video Consultation and your clinical system. The video call will continue even if the window is minimised.
If a patient has not downloaded the myGP app you will not be able to action a video consultation call with them.
When opening the Appointment Detail page, you will see that the Camera icon will not be available:
If a Video Consultation is not available, an error message will state that Connect cannot start a video call successfully.
Options available during a Video Consultation
During the Video Consultation there are a number of actions you can use to control the call.
Lets work our way from left to right through these options.
- Speaker – mutes the patient’s audio on your computer
- Microphone – mutes your microphone (for a sneeze, or if someone enters your consulting room)
- Camera – Stops your webcam feed (good for adjusting your hair)
- Hang up – you guessed it, for ending the Video Consultation.
Except for the hang up option, the rest of the actions are toggles. Press to activate the option, and click again to deactivate the option.
Top Tip: It is always good practice to advise a patient that you are going to put them on mute, stop your video feed, or to end the Video Consultation. This way, the patient always knows what is happening.
Ending a Video Consultation
To end a Video Consultation, use the Hang Up action button, which is the furthest right option.
The call will be ended immediately.
Troubleshooting Video Consultations
The availability and quality of a Video Consultation can be dependent on a number of factors. We have put together the below troubleshooting tips for a number of scenarios that may occur.
“Waiting for patient to connect” is displayed for a long time
This usually means that the patient’s phone is ringing with a video call, but they have not yet answered.
If it is apparent that the patient’s phone has not been ringing, or they have tried to answer and nothing happens, you should check if your webcam and microphone are set as accessible by myGP Connect. Contact iPLATO Support for assistance with this.
There is very poor quality of video or audio
We use the leading video call software on the market. It is designed to use the highest quality available, given the connection speed of the call. Where one of the caller’s internet connection speed slows, the quality of the video and audio will reduce – with an aim of not cutting off the call.
Should you not be able to see or hear the patient enough, it is likely that your internet speed, or the patient’s internet speed is too low for the call to continue. We would advise ending the Video Consultation and calling the patient on the phone.
If most of your Video Consultations have poor quality, we would advise getting your IT team to look at this as their may be connection problems with your network, or your internet speed has slowed.
Please make sure that your building’s internet speed has been assessed to meet the technical requirements for Video Consultations prior to use.
I do not see the patient’s video, but can hear them
It is likely the patient has switched off their video feed, potentially for privacy reasons.
If you would like to direct the patient to show you something, you can ask them to tap a Camera icon on their screen which will restart the video feed.
I can see the patient, but cannot hear them
The patient may have accidentally muted themselves. Ask them to tap the Microphone button to take themselves off mute.
If it seems there is an issue with audio, try ending the call and starting it again. This should clear any problem that exists. Should the problem continue, try calling the patient on the phone.
Guidance for holding Video Consultations
We will be releasing guidance very soon.
We recommend that you spend time working out standard procedures for how your practice will run Video Consultations. You may find it useful to speak to your CCG lead for assistance on how to prepare for running Video Consultations.