Conducting a Professional Telemedicine Visit Using High-Quality Webside Manner

Abstract

Purpose of review: As telemedicine gains popularity among providers and patients alike, it is important to ensure the standards of care remain equivalent between the in-person and virtual settings. While bedside manner remains a key competency incorporated into medical school curricula, "webside manner," or professional standards for virtual care, remains less defined.

Recent findings: Best practices exist including guidance prior to the visit, methods to maintain a professional background environment, and translation of core communication competencies for a video interaction. Through application of these practices, a provider can ensure the core interpersonal and communication competencies are fulfilled. These practices have direct application to allergy, asthma, and immunology care. This review provides an overview of best practices for professionalism and patient interaction for virtual care and examines specific applications to allergy, asthma, and immunology visits.

Keywords: Professionalism; Telehealth; Telemedicine; Video visit; Virtual care; Webside manner.

Fig. 1

Example of an ideal telemedicine setup