Telemedicine Best Practices for 2025: A Complete Guide
How to deliver good virtual care: the right setup, building rapport on video, and the legal and documentation basics every practice should cover.
Telehealth is now a permanent part of care, especially in psychiatry and behavioral health, where much of the visit is conversation. Here's how to run virtual visits well.
Get the Setup Right
- Video platform: use a platform your practice has vetted for handling health information, and get a business associate agreement (BAA) from any vendor that handles PHI
- Connection: a wired or strong Wi-Fi connection, with a phone backup plan if video drops
- Camera and audio: camera at eye level, a decent headset or microphone, and light in front of you rather than behind
- Space: a private, quiet room with a neutral background
Before the Visit
- Confirm the visit is telehealth when it's booked, and send the link ahead of time
- Send intake forms and screeners in advance so the visit can focus on the conversation
- Give new patients simple instructions for joining, and a number to call if they can't connect
At the Start of Every Visit
- Verify the patient's identity
- Confirm and document the patient's location, so you know which state's rules apply and where to send help in an emergency
- Confirm a callback number
- Check that the patient is somewhere private, and offer to reschedule if they aren't
Build Rapport on Video
- Look at the camera when you speak, not only at the screen
- Tell the patient when you're looking away to type or check the chart
- Allow slightly longer pauses; audio lag makes people talk over each other
- Check understanding more often than you would in person
Legal and Compliance Basics
- Licensure: in general you must be licensed in the state where the patient is located at the time of the visit
- Consent: get and document informed consent for telehealth as your state and payers require
- Controlled substances: rules for prescribing controlled substances by telemedicine (the Ryan Haight Act and the DEA's temporary flexibilities) have been changing, so check current DEA guidance before prescribing
- Payer rules: coverage, place-of-service codes and modifiers for telehealth vary by payer, so confirm them before billing
Document Like an In-Person Visit
Record the same clinical content as an in-person visit, plus the patient's location, whether the visit was video or audio-only, and any technical problems that affected care.
How Jogaza Handles Telehealth
Jogaza doesn't have its own video platform. Instead, you connect your practice's Zoom or Google Meet account, and a meeting link is created for each telehealth visit. Patients can book telehealth or in-person visits from your online booking page, and receive reminders by email, or by text if they agreed to texts. Jogaza's AI scribe can record alongside the telehealth call, with the patient's agreement, and draft the note for you to review. Telehealth is included in the Professional plan.