Digital Empathy and Chat Telehealth: Is it Possible?
The patient-doctor relationship is a hallmark of clinical care. For that reason, there is a need to define how rapid technological advancements and digital health has affected the role of empathy and connection with our patients. While I speak often on how the rise of telehealth has revolutionized the way we access medical care, there is a challenge of maintaining the essential human element of healthcare. Patients want it and it’s necessary.
Enter digital empathy, a concept that seeks to infuse compassion and understanding into the virtual realm of telehealth. Digital empathy is the art of conveying understanding, compassion, and support through digital technologies. In telehealth, we also use the term webside manner although digital empathy is a bit broader.
Within video visits, it seems more obvious - we can use body language and facial cues to connect and we are still able to see each other. It becomes much harder with chat and audio based telehealth. Unlike face-to-face interactions or video telehealth, clinicians in phone and chat telehealth cannot rely on non-verbal cues like facial expressions and body language to gauge a patient's emotional state.
Patients benefit from improved digital empathy. In telehealth visits overall, it enhances trust, reduces patient’s anxiety about using telehealth, improves patient satisfaction and improves mental health support. It is essential for great care and for better telehealth expansion.
Most of the current tips and guidelines are for video telehealth. This doesn’t mean that there is no hope for chat and audio. It is still vital that patients feel heard and cared for despite not seeing or being in the same room as their clinician. Here are some tips:
Active Listening: Healthcare providers must actively listen to patients' concerns and questions. By asking open-ended questions and showing genuine interest, they can create a safe space for patients to express themselves.
Watch Tone and Language: No one can see your face, so the tone of voice and written language become essential for conveying empathy. A warm and reassuring tone can go a long way in comforting a distressed patient.
Empathetic Responses: This means that you are validating what they said and responding to it. We are seeing #AI chats do this as an automatic response which can aid clinicians.
Cultural Competence: Being culturally sensitive is crucial in digital empathy. Understanding the cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and values of patients can help providers tailor their approach. It also gives you the ability to ensure you are answering the patient questions and they understand the care they need.
Privacy and Security: Patients must feel that their personal information is secure during telehealth consultations which can be communicated over any medium.
Follow-Up and Continuity: Doing what you say you will after the visits leads to better patient satisfaction and care. It also demonstrates digital empathy since it means that the patient was heard.
We are seeing more growth in other forms of telehealth, especially chat. I suspect there will be more guidelines and thoughts of how to improve how we do this. In the meantime, taking what we do know and applying it works (and how we classically have had to do it for telehealth). The AI chats will also be able to help with this - although these are skills we need to develop for ourselves as well.