Setting Patient Expectations for a TeleScan Exam

Telesonography® is a new model of care, and we understand patients will need some time and resources to become familiar and comfortable with it. In this article, we’d like to discuss helpful information providers can share with their patients prior to their first TeleScan exam. We’ll cover the benefits of a TeleScan exam, an understanding of the teleultrasound process, and some reminders on how their experience will be different compared to a traditional exam. 

We believe taking time for this education and expectation-setting prevents an unexpected experience and will lead to happier, healthier patients. 

The Need for Teleultrasound 

Some patients may question the need for a tech-enabled teleultrasound solution. After all, what’s wrong with the traditional care model?  

The answer: nothing is wrong with the care model. In fact, we’ve always believed that the best-case scenario for prenatal care involves a highly qualified perinatal sonographer at the patient’s bedside. Here’s the problem: this ideal care model isn’t available for everyone (especially rural and minority groups) and making it available isn’t currently realistic. Here are a few reasons why: 

• A nationwide sonographer shortage has made it difficult for healthcare facilities to hire and retain these valuable professionals. 
• The shortage means facilities in rural and underserved urban areas are often faced with limited resources and the inability to meet patient demand. 
• This, in turn, creates lengthy wait times until the next available appointment for patients, which interferes with the timeliness of care.  
• In many cases, patients living in a maternal care desert have only one option: make long-distance trips to non-local facilities. 

Understanding these factors, we saw the need for another solution, which is why we developed a telesonography option. Here’s how this care model helps solve the issues we mentioned: 

• Rather than trying to recruit, hire, and retain sonographers on their own, our software quickly and easily connects facilities (healthcare centers, FQHCs, obstetric providers, MFM clinics, etc.) with remote, highly skilled perinatal sonographers. 
• This telemedicine model enables healthcare facilities to offer in-house ultrasound for their patients—at a fraction of the cost.  
• The efficiency of our solution also enables them to offer timely appointments for patients and clear longstanding backlogs.  
• This means providers can increase patient compliance and adherence. Patients are much more likely to attend a local appointment offering ultrasound than to go to an unfamiliar third-party facility for imaging. 

While patients may not need all this contextual information, it can provide a framework for understanding the change and why their provider is offering a new service. 

How TeleScan Works 

Patients may not be curious about the context behind TeleScan, but they will surely want to know how a teleultrasound exam works. We recommend giving the following short explanation before their first appointment: 

“You’ll attend your appointment here at our facility. During your exam, one of our local staff members will take your blood pressure and weight, ask you some questions, and then use the ultrasound machine to capture videos of your baby. While you are still in the room, those videos will be reviewed by a remote sonographer, who will take measurements and send a report to your provider. Your provider will finalize the report and discuss your results with you. If you like, keepsake images can be sent to you in a secure text message so that you can share them with family and friends.” 

Patients may have questions following this explanation. Even if they don’t, it may be helpful to draw their attention to the primary differences between a TeleScan exam and a traditional ultrasound exam. That’s what we’ll discuss next. 

Primary Differences: Traditional vs Teleultrasound 

Helping patients understand the primary differences between traditional ultrasound and a TeleScan exam can help them plan and prepare. For example, patients may want to consider whether this exam is the right time for their partner, parents, friends, etc. to join them for the appointment.  

Here are the top five things they should know ahead of time: 

1. Who is in the exam room

When undergoing a traditional prenatal ultrasound, a patient is in the room with an expert sonographer. In a teleultrasound exam, the person in the room may be a medical assistant, nurse, midwife, or other healthcare worker. This person is a local healthcare professional and will prioritize patient comfort and the timeliness of the exam. 

2. What happens during the exam 

Traditional ultrasounds can be time-consuming, but a teleultrasound appointment often is not. The local healthcare professional will use the ultrasound machine to capture images and send them to the remote sonographer. The whole process can be as quick as 15 minutes. 

3. Where diagnostics are performed 

During a traditional ultrasound, the bedside sonographer completes diagnostics in the clinic. During a teleultrasound exam, a telesonographer will complete diagnostics remotely. 

4. When images are discussed

A traditional ultrasound conducted by a sonographer often features narration and visualization of the ultrasound in real time. However, in teleultrasound, patients will instead have the opportunity to discuss their images and results directly with their provider. 

5. How patients receive keepsake images 

After a traditional ultrasound, images are typically printed from the ultrasound machine. However, in our teleultrasound model, images are sent via secure text message following the exam.

We hope these short explanations and answers are helpful for healthcare providers as they seek to better educate and prepare patients for this exciting new service. To learn more about TeleScan, click the button below.

What other patient questions should we provide answers to? Let us know in the comments!