You can start a virtual visit for a patient with or without an appointment. The patient must have an active pathway card (usually in the Pre Visit phase) in order to start the virtual visit. For more information on pathways, go to Pathways.
Pathway cards are added to pathways in one of the following ways:
If an Auto Assigned Workflow Phase is enabled for the appointment type, and that type of appointment is booked, a corresponding appointment card is created in pathways at a set time before the appointment time. For example, 15 minutes before the appointment time, the appointment card is created and moves into the Pre Visit phase. For more information, go to Creating and modifying appointment types.
If the appointment is a scheduled virtual visit, the appointment automatically moves to pathways when the patient signs into the visit. This happens if the patient signs in before the auto-assigned workflow phase is set to move the appointment into pathways (see above). If no auto-assigned workflow phase is set for that appointment type, the appointment moves to your default phase when the patient signs in. For more information on setting your default phase, go to Configuring transitions for your Pathways.
You manually add a patient or appointment card to pathways. For more information, go to Manually adding a patient with an appointment or Adding a patient without an appointment.
Steps
1. Open the patient chart using one of the following methods:
Open the appointment and then click Encounter or Open Chart.
From the main menu, click Pathways and, from the Pre Visit or Visit column, select the appointment card for the patient.
📌 Note: Ensure you have set the Pathways filter to include virtual visits (refer to Customizing your view of Pathways).
2. The active Pathway for the patient appears in the left pane of the chart.
3. Select the appointment card to expand it and see the virtual visit options. From here, you can change the phase, see whether the patient has signed into the visit, resend an invitation to the patient, start the visit, assign tasks and tags, and send chat messages to the patient. For more information refer to, Actions available for Pathway Cards.
💡 Tip: The patient receives the invitation to the virtual visit 5 minutes before the appointment time. If the patient has not signed in, you can resend the invitation by clicking Resend.
4. The patient must provide camera and microphone access, and accept the virtual visit agreement before they can join. If the patient has signed in but not completed these steps, the icons will be grey.
These icons refresh automatically as the patient completes the steps. You can also click the refresh icon.
📌 Note: If you would like to customize your clinic's virtual visit agreement, contact the TELUS Health support team through the support chat.
5. When the patient is checked in and the icons are green, click Start Video Chat.
💡 Tip: If you are using TELUS Collaborative Health Record (CHR) Connect, multiple providers from the same clinic can join the same virtual visit. The second provider sees Join Video Chat on the pathway card instead of Start Video Chat.
6. A message appears indicating that a video chat is only available if the patient is checked in. Click Do Not Show This Message Again if you do not want to see this message every time you start a video chat. Click Okay to continue.
📌 Note: If you start the video chat before the patient signs in, when they do sign in, they will not be prompted to accept a call from you and your screen will display Waiting. You will not be able to see or hear each other.
7. You may be prompted to provide camera and microphone access. Click Allow.
8. The virtual visit opens and the patient's name appears in the panel on the left. You can now begin your visit with the patient. For more information, go to Conducting and ending a virtual visit.
9. At this point (or earlier in the process), you should change the Phase from Pre Visit to Visit, to indicate the patient is being seen. Your workflow and phases may be different depending on your Pathway configuration.
Updated January 19, 2024