Choosing strategic locations for telehealth positively impacts a virtual care program. For example, if you are implementing pediatric telehealth, consider visible locations within that department so that patients and clinical staff are consistently aware that virtual care is an option. You may also consider placing a telehealth consultation room near out-patient check-in to gain the most exposure. If your hospital has an overloaded ER, consider placing your telehealth within its vicinity so that patients know they can schedule an eVisit to check-in. This may to deter unnecessary ER admissions and give clinicians the opportunity to direct patients to more appropriate services. In any case, make sure your virtual care examination rooms are near clinical staff.
“Whether a patient is seeing his or her physician in person or via telemedicine, the same standards of care must be maintained.”
For telehealth outside of the clinical environment, including those services administered from a provider’s home, many of the same best practices apply. ATA’s Core Operational Guidelines for Telehealth Services Involving Provider-patient Interaction further states,
“Healthcare professionals providing telehealth services should (always) ensure? that workspaces are secure, private, reasonably soundproof, and have a lockable door to prevent unexpected entry. Efforts shall be made to ensure privacy so provider discussion cannot be overheard by others outside of the room where the service is provided.”
Whether you are building a new telehealth space or repurposing an existing room within your hospital, it is a good idea to create a floor plan to help determine your workable space. You will want to configure elements such as office furniture and different types of equipment needed to ensure it is optimal for your eVisit needs.
If patients will be entering the room at any point, you will need to make sure there is ample space to navigate, especially in the event they have specific accessibility needs or are accompanied by medical equipment. You will want to provide adequate ventilation, filtering and heat control. Telemedical equipment, including lights, computers, and docking stations, all generate heat and can be damaged by dust particles. In addition, the space should be free of any distracting outside noise and the room acoustics should facilitate clear sound and two-way communication. Visually, a background with a brightly painted wall may not show well on camera and can be distracting, so be sure to paint the room in neutral, soothing tones or use a greenscreen. According to Vantage Technology Consulting Group in Healthcare Design Question – What’s the Impact of Telehealth on the Design of Exam Rooms,
“We implemented green screen technology on a project for the Mayo Clinic where the doctors were in a different country and time zone but didn’t want to emphasize that fact to the patient. Essentially, this turns the telehealth room into a mini-production studio.”
According to American Telemedicine Association’s publication, Let there be Light: A Quick Guide to Telemedicine Lighting, which is a go-to resource for virtual care lighting and techniques, appropriate lighting is linked to patient satisfaction, which contributes to clinical engagement and reimbursement.
Incorporating a natural look and feel through lighting and room design “humanizes” a virtual visit, which is important in promoting an overall positive experience, particularly for new or less familiar patients. ATA suggests the following:
Natural light – This is preferred; however, it is often impractical in a clinical environment.
Natural artificial light – This is recommended as it is an alternative to daylight, as it is a warm white light. 3200K-4000K lumens are optimal. Avoid lighting the space with colored lightbulbs or LED lighting, — the blue hue causes an unnatural appearance.
Fluorescent – This is preferred if done properly. Use cool white to reduce heating. Use 3500K lumens at home or 5000K lumens in a commercial setting. Use lighting fixtures specifically designed for videoconferencing if possible.
100% indirect lighting is recommended as it allows light to be more evenly distributed without creating hotspots. Multiple frontal light sources placed for vertical illumination at 35-40% above eye-level to create a 3D effect is recommended. Fill lighting can remove shadows and balance color. You will want to void downlighting, as it can create facial shadows. The graphic below provides an appropriate lighting design for a telehealth provider’s space.
According to American Telehealth Association, “internet-based video conferencing software programs should provide such services at a bandwidth of at least 384 Kbps in each of the downlink and uplink directions. Such services should provide a minimum of 640×480 resolution at 30 frames per second.” While there is a vast array of cameras that can be used for hospital telehealth, we will focus on a few video conferencing camera options outside the camera native to your laptop or tablet.
As hospitals look towards the “post COVID-19” future, and shift focus to increase operational efficiencies and improve patient safety measures, the old proverb “necessity is the mother of invention” holds true more than ever.
Patient care preference, dictated by necessary safety measures, has obligated hospital leaders to completely recalibrate how they approach healthcare visits, pushing mobile-based solutions such as Telehealth, Home Monitoring, Virtual Waiting Rooms and Virtual Visits; the list goes on and on…
We here at Access hope this information has been helpful by providing useful information that can guide your healthcare strategies and efforts in this new era.
Before the global pandemic, there was increased conversation in the U.S. about the growth in virtual care, due in part to advances and ubiquity in technology, but also because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursement regulations were finally catching up to available technology. According to a survey conducted by HIMSS Analytics (2017), telemedicine use rose from 54% in 2014 to 71% in 2017. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are hearing even more about the explosion in telemedicine. Regulatory waivers and the potential benefits to both patients and clinicians have fostered unprecedented growth and, importantly, acceptance (and even preference) of virtual care over face-to-face office visits. According to one report, telemedicine usage increased as much as 4,330% in the few weeks after the pandemic was recognized (Mann et al., 2020).
For those venturing into telemedicine, guidance has traditionally focused on the technical specifications of equipment and the regulatory requirements for reimbursement. Top program objectives have included patient-oriented outcomes such as ease of access, convenience, and satisfaction; improving leverage and efficiency of limited physician resources; and providing treatment in a lower‐cost care setting, and reducing readmissions (REACHhealth, 2017). However, telemedicine happens within a built environment, and designing telemedicine spaces involves more than the selection of technology and an understanding of regulatory compliance. Design should address space requirements for the diagnosis and treatment being offered, acoustics, lighting, gaze angle, interior surfaces, site identification, and necessary considerations to support the use of equipment (e.g., storage, adequate ventilation).
Mental HealthIn 2018, the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) Health Guidelines Revision Committee (HGRC) took a proactive approach to design for telemedicine and established requirements and recommendations for the Guidelines for Design and Construction documents for hospitals and outpatient facilities. Multiple sources were reviewed in 2014 and used as a foundation for the proposals that became the fundamental requirements and recommended appendix language for telemedicine spaces in the 2018 Guidelines. These included research studies, published industry expert opinion, and consensus documents such as association or healthcare provider standards and guidelines. This brief, originating from work developed for FGI and a 2018 article for the trade magazine Health Facilities Management (Taylor, 2018), outlines the results of that review, along with newer guidance based on the evidence that continues to emerge. While requirements for telemedicine room design are not necessarily intended to apply to virtual visits that originate from a physician’s or patient's home, some strategies can be considered in any setting, including home-based settings. To meet objectives for visual and acoustical privacy, a room is always preferred over open spaces.
By 2015, experts stated, “We are seeing telemedicine evolve from a technology‐driven novelty to an essential component of healthcare delivery in a number of specialties and fields” (Wilson & Maeder, 2015, p. 219). With stay-at-home orders in place for many U.S. locations in April 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that almost half (43.5%) of Medicare primary care visits were telemedicine visits compared to only a fraction of a percent (0.1%) in February 2020, prior to the declaration of a public health emergency (Bosworth et al., 2020). Now, in the midst of the global pandemic, the use of telemedicine has exploded due to waivers that have temporarily allowed physicians to employ commonly available technologies such as Zoom, Skype, and Facetime. At one Australian organization (which had seen a slow uptake in the use of telemedicine technology for the prior two years), 23 departments had at least one telehealth consultation prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but following the declaration of the pandemic, this increased to 47 departments during April 2020 (Schulz et al., 2020). Another U.S.-based healthcare system saw non-urgent visits rise from 95 visits daily to 4,209—a 4,330% increase (Mann et al., 2020). Many of these visits are based on the patient (and even the physician) using a home-based setting to increase access to medical care, mitigate risk of disease transmission by providing for physical distancing, and conserving personal protective equipment (Hare et al., 2020).
This is dramatically different than how use was reported prior to COVID-19. According to the 2017 HIMSS Analytics survey, the largest portion of telemedicine users (30%) were one- or two-person practices. Only 24% of organizations of more than 101 physicians reported using telemedicine. The two practice types most often using telemedicine were psychiatry (21%) and pediatrics (20%). “Hub-and-spoke” platforms—those that rely on audiovisual contact within single sites (e.g., the hub hospital to the spoke hospital)—were more common for inpatient services than outpatient practices (nearly 60% compared to less than 45%). In 2019, a telemedicine survey reported that while 66% of consumers were willing to use telehealth, only 8% reported having a video visit with a doctor (Harris Poll, 2019).
Despite an increase in the use of virtual care, many questions and inconsistencies still arise in discussions of telemedicine, including how to define the term. The origins of the term are derived from the Greek root “tele” and Latin root “medicus,” meaning “healing at a distance.” The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) has defined telehealth as “the use of electronic information and telecommunication technologies to support and promote long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration” (HRSA, 2017, para. 3). CMS uses the In the context of this brief, a telemedicine visit (i.e., connecting primary care or emergency department clinicians to medical specialists) differs from a more expansive use of digital telehealth (i.e., connecting clinicians to patient in their homes).
HRSA definition and the terms telehealth and telemedicine interchangeably. Recently, the ATA (American Telemedicine Association) has shifted almost exclusively to using the term telehealth compared to several years ago where they explicitly stated they used the terms interchangeably. However, in announcing their 2017 HIMSS Analytics Digital Health Pulse survey results, KPMG suggested a differentiation: “telehealth” connects clinicians directly with patients in their home or via mobile devices, while “telemedicine” connects primary care or emergency department clinicians to medical specialists via technology (KPMG, 2017). The older 2017 distinction that telemedicine is more than a home visit via mobile device is important when it comes to designing environments to support these services in the content development for the Guidelines.
While there is no shortage of technology—from two-way videos to smartphones—there is an inherent difference between connecting via FaceTime with our primary care provider when we have a cold versus coordinating patient care with specialists in another location, for patients located in underserved areas, or where it might be better to avoid unnecessary patient transfers. FGI (Facility Guidelines Institute, 2018b, p. xxxix) established a glossary definition for what the Guidelines means by telemedicine: “The use of electronic information and communications technologies to provide and support health care when distance separates the patient and medical provider.” The following note appended to the glossary definition further delineates this definition (Facility Guidelines Institute, 2018b, p. xxxix):
Clinical applications of telemedicine may encompass diagnostic, therapeutic, and forensic modalities. Common applications include pre-hospitalization assessment and post-hospital follow-up care, scheduled and urgent outpatient visits, medication management, psychotherapy, and consultation. Patient and provider consultations, medical imaging, remote monitoring, and education are all services that can be provided via telemedicine. A variety of technologies, including videoconferencing systems, internet-based websites, digital phones, and secure e-mail, can be used to deliver telemedicine services. Telemedicine facilitates the exchange of health information, services, and education between providers and providers or patients through electronic means.
Clinical applications of telemedicine may encompass diagnostic, therapeutic, and forensic modalities. Common applications include pre-hospitalization assessment and post-hospital follow-up care, scheduled and urgent outpatient visits, medication management, psychotherapy, and consultation. Patient and provider consultations, medical imaging, remote monitoring, and education are all services that can be provided via telemedicine. A variety of technologies, including videoconferencing systems, internet-based websites, digital phones, and secure e-mail, can be used to deliver telemedicine services. Telemedicine facilitates the exchange of health information, services, and education between providers and providers or patients through electronic means.
In the context of this brief, a telemedicine visit differs from a more expansive use of digital telehealth with other patient-focused applications (used equally in inpatient and outpatient care), e-visit concierge services (more widely used in inpatient care), remote patient monitoring (used slightly more in outpatient care), and consumer grade off-the-shelf devices/wearables (nearly equal use in inpatient and outpatient care). In these latter platforms, the technology is more often directly connected to the patient (e.g., through a laptop) versus a fixed site (e.g., a spoke hospital)
In the context of this brief, a telemedicine visit (i.e., connecting primary care or emergency department clinicians to medical specialists) differs from a more expansive use of digital telehealth (i.e., connecting clinicians to patient in their homes).
Telemedicine services may include one-on-one interactions, consultations with a patient and family members (e.g., pediatric or elderly patients), examinations supported by a telemedicine presenter located with the patient. Specialty services (such as dermatology or orthopedics) may be provided, and each type of service may have specific needs for lighting and space to support the clinical function. Thus, it is important to know what services will be provided in the telemedicine space to achieve a functional design.
The ATA Human Factors Special Interest Group (SIG) suggests a larger context of “telepresence,” which is independent of the clinical content of the encounter. Telepresence is a synthesis of technology, environment, and human factors that encompasses the demeanor of the patient and provider along with quality of the encounter, including the ambient environment—lighting, sound/noise, and room appearance (Krupinski & Leistner, 2017).
Telemedicine requirements for the built environment were introduced in the 2018 Hospital Guidelines and Outpatient Guidelines. Requirements were included for the size of telemedicine spaces, privacy, acoustics, lighting, interior surfaces, site identification, and storage for equipment. Where low patient volume makes provision of a dedicated telemedicine room impractical, the FGI Guidelines stated a telemedicine room could also serve other functions such as a physician's office, exam room, or conference room (Facility Guidelines Institute, 2018b, 2018a).
As previously stated, it is important to note that the FGI requirements for telemedicine spaces are not intended to apply to virtual visits that do not require a physical examination of the patient or visits that originate from a physician’s or patient's home. However, with ads promoting how to “look your best” on video calls during the 2020 work-from-home lock downs, there are many strategies that are generalizable to a home setting (e.g., controlling glare, direct and indirect light).
Space for telemedicine should accommodate the patient, a family member and/or presenter, necessary furniture (e.g., chairs for the patient and family member, an exam table, a charting station) and equipment. According to the FGI Guidelines, where telemedicine is used for patient examination, the space must be sized so an exam table can be situated within view of the camera and the following can be accommodated: fixed or mobile telemedicine equipment, peripheral devices, an on-site caregiver or patient presenter, a hand-washing station where hands-on exams are provided, and a documentation area (Facility Guidelines Institute, 2018b).
The telemedicine room should be large enough for the patient and a patient presenter to move around comfortably for the clinical service being provided.
Additional considerations for sizing a telemedicine space in the FGI Guidelines are recommendations based on the guidance in the various reviewed sources. One of these is the proximity of the camera and microphone to the patient. The camera and exam table should be positioned so a presenter using and manipulating telemedicine peripherals can see both the patient and the monitor with images being transmitted to the remote clinician’s site (CTEConline, 2011). While some technologies (e.g. a laptop) may include embedded microphones, some organizations have opted for USB add-on omnidirectional microphones due to due to poor microphone quality on standard computers (Vilendrer et al., 2020). Space for microphones should be available in front of and close to the individuals speaking in the videoconference, ideally about 4' from the telemedicine workstation to prevent audio feedback (EMTN, 2018; PHSA, 2013). An omnidirectional microphone can be also hung from the ceiling (Krupinski et al., 2007).
