Telehealth Visit Best Practices and Troubleshooting

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Updated: 11/17/2023 | Views: 130393

Telehealth is the next generation HIPAA compliant video visit solution. Telehealth visits can be conducted on a computer or mobile device with Chrome as the recommended browser. If you are having camera, microphone, or connectivity issues, review the following best practices and troubleshooting tips.

Best Practices

For the best telehealth visit experience, review this list of best practices:

Use headphones or a headset to reduce background noise and improve focus
Mute yourself when you aren't speaking, so as not to distract from those currently speaking or cause echo
Use a browser that is up to date, preferably Chrome or a Chromium based application
Verify your browser has access to the Camera and Microphone, then be sure to test before your call:
- Mac: Camera Permissions
- Mac: Microphone Permissions
- Windows: Camera and Microphone Privacy
- Chrome: Telehealth Microphone and Camera Settings
If applicable, consider disabling reactions on computers with MacOS Sonoma or later to avoid triggering visual effects that may be distracting during the visit
- Review Apple's support page to learn about the requirements, how to turn off reactions, and which gestures to avoid: Use Reactions, Presenter Overlay and other effects when video conferencing on Mac

Initial Troubleshooting

Most connectivity issues during a telehealth visit can be resolved by completing some or all of these steps:

Refresh your browser page
Open the telehealth visit link in a private or incognito window
Quit/close your current browser and try joining from a different browser
Close any other applications or tabs that may be controlling access to the camera or microphone
Sometimes bad browser data can interfere with the telehealth visit. Try clearing your browser cache and cookies, then reboot your computer
Note: Chrome is the preferred browser for optimal use of Telehealth.
- Review the instructions for clearing your cache and cookies for the supported browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera

Audio or Video Troubleshooting

There are a number of factors that can contribute to inconsistent quality on a call, like network conditions and computer processing power. The telehealth visit experience may improve by completing some or all of these steps:

Restart your WiFi router
Get closer to the router, or connect via ethernet
If possible, try connecting via another network temporarily (for example a hotspot connection)
Close any applications or browser tabs that you aren't actively using on the call
Disable any background video effects or noise reduction