Get the practical details ready before a telehealth call

The appointment time arrives and the patient is ready, but their camera is blocked and the joining instructions are in an old email. A little preparation gives both sides somewhere to start when the technology needs attention.

For a planned video appointment, agree who handles the invitation, who helps with joining and who decides whether the consultation can proceed. The clinician assesses suitability for the individual appointment. Reception needs a clear route for passing on questions about that decision.

Send one useful set of instructions

NSW’s Agency for Clinical Innovation recommends giving people the appointment details, contact numbers, joining instructions and a backup plan. It also suggests a charged device, a suitable connection and a private place with good lighting. See the ACI consumer preparation checklist.

Turn your own clinic’s arrangements into a short message that answers:

• When is the appointment, including the time zone where relevant?
• Which link or number should the patient use?
• How early should they join?
• Who can they contact if they cannot connect?
• What should they have ready for this particular appointment?

Check the message from the patient’s side. Is the contact number easy to find on a phone? Does the link open the intended service? If an interpreter or support person is joining, confirm their arrangements through your approved process.

Check the clinic end too

The ACI’s clinician checklist includes checking camera and microphone permissions, the room, relevant patient information and the backup arrangements. It also includes introductions, an identity check and confirming that participants have connected with sound and video. Read the ACI videoconference checklist.

Before the session, close unrelated documents and notifications. Place the appointment details and any approved troubleshooting instructions where you can reach them quickly. If you plan to share your screen, rehearse selecting the intended window with a colleague using fictional information.

Give new team members a practice run. One person joins as the patient while another uses the clinician view. Try the joining instructions exactly as written, including the route for asking for help.

Make the interruption plan familiar

Consider this fictional situation: Lee joins on time, but the sound repeatedly cuts out. The receptionist can see the appointment and follows the clinic’s connection-help process. The clinician decides whether another approved arrangement is appropriate and explains the next step to Lee.

For your own process, write down who initiates contact after a dropped call, which confirmed number they use and how staff tell the clinician what happened. Include the route for documenting a rescheduled or incomplete consultation. Let the clinician determine any clinical follow-up needed after an interruption.

Explain the ending before everyone leaves

Reserve a moment to check the practical next steps: whether another appointment is needed, how any agreed documents will reach the patient and whom they should contact with questions. Record arrangements in the appropriate clinical or administrative record.

After the first few sessions with a new process, ask reception which questions patients repeated. Add the answer to the invitation or the staff instructions. If several people cannot find the help number, move it beside the joining link and try the message again on a small screen.

Sources checked on 6 October 2026.