Delivering remote consultations: Talking the talk.

INTRODUCTION

There is an increasing affinity for remote health consultations (including telephone and virtual platforms), enabling new models of accessing services to evolve. Whilst many key skills are transferable from traditional to remote consultations, there is even greater emphasis on verbal communication skills during these interactions.

PURPOSE

This masterclass considers the communication skills required for delivering remote health care consultations, in particular focussing on: 12 interactional features in an opening sequence of a remote call; active listening; how to offer advice using the Ask-Offer-Ask framework; and subtleties in phrasing and prosody when closing a call that may indicate a level of satisfaction (or otherwise).

IMPLICATIONS

In planning for digitally-enabled services to become mainstream, the differences in communication between remote and face-to-face consultations must be recognised and embraced.