Live chat with patients

A live chat is a private conversation in text with one patient, set up from their page like a video call but without the camera. It suits reviewing reports, quick follow-ups, and patients on a weak connection. Messages and files go directly between your device and the patient's, encrypted end to end, and are kept only if you choose to save them. Live chat is on every plan, including Free.

#1. Start the chat

1. Open the patient's page and press Live chat, or Start in the Chats box on the same page.
2. Send the link with WhatsApp, Copy or the QR code, as for a video call. WhatsApp opens with the words "Your chat link for the consultation:".
3. Keep this tab open, and stay on this page until you end the chat. The conversation exists only on your screen and the patient's until you choose what to keep, so closing the tab or going to another page in it loses it. Your browser warns you before the tab closes.

The link works only while the chat is open, and for 3 hours at most. Anyone with the link can join while it is open, so send it only to the patient.

#2. What the patient sees

The patient opens the link and is straight in the chat, with no camera or microphone needed. Their screen says they can write to you there and send photos of reports or old prescriptions with the paperclip. They need no app and no account.

While the two devices connect, the chat says Setting up the private channel…. Once connected, you can both write.

#3. Messages and files

• Write in the box at the bottom and press Enter to send. Shift + Enter starts a new line. A message can be up to 4,000 characters.
• Send a file with the paperclip: photos (JPG or PNG) or PDFs, up to 5 MB each and up to 10 at a time. Ask patients to photograph a report flat, in good light, one page per photo.
• Open a file by clicking it. Photos open fitted to the screen and PDFs page by page, inside RxKite. Use the arrows to move between files and the download button to save a copy on your device.

If a file is too large or of another kind, a note above the box says so and nothing is sent.

#4. Switch to video

When you need to see the patient, press Video in the Chat | Video switch at the top. It works once the patient has joined.

• The patient is asked, and both cameras turn on only if they press Turn on video. Until then your screen says you are asking, with Cancel to take it back.
• If the patient asks you, a request appears with Stay on chat and Turn on video. Your camera and microphone turn on only if you agree.
• During video, the chat moves beside the video under Messages and files, and everything written so far stays there.
• Press Chat at any time to turn both cameras off and carry on in text. No one has to agree to that.

Video calls explains the call controls.

#5. End and choose what to keep

Press End chat (End call if you are on video). If anything was written or sent, a window asks what goes into the record before the chat closes:

• Save to the record: the whole conversation is kept with the patient, under Chats on their page, where you can read it again.
• Destroy the conversation: no words from it are stored anywhere. RxKite keeps only a line in the audit log saying that a chat took place.
• Keep these attachments in the record: tick the photos and PDFs to keep. When you save, every attachment is ticked; when you destroy, none is, and you tick the ones you want. Kept files go to the patient's Documents and count towards your stored files.

The button says what will happen, for example Save chat and 2 attachments or Destroy chat, keep 1 attachment. Keep chatting goes back to the conversation.

The patient's page then says the consultation has ended, and nothing from it stays on their device. If the link runs out after 3 hours while the chat is still open, the same window appears so you can still choose.

#6. Read a saved chat later

On the patient's page, the Chats box lists every saved chat by date, with the number of messages and attachments. Click one to read it. Delete chat removes the conversation; documents you kept from it stay in Documents.

#Good to know

• Same connection as video. A chat goes directly between the two devices, like a call, so on a few strict office, hospital or mobile networks it cannot connect either. Switching from Wi-Fi to mobile data, or the other way round, usually helps.
• One patient, one link. Each chat is with one patient. Start a new one for the next patient, or for the same patient on another day.
• After the chat, write and send the prescription as in Digital prescriptions. If the chat is still open, you can also send the PDF in it with the paperclip.

#Your part as the doctor

RxKite gives you the call, the chat and the prescription. Whether a condition can be managed remotely, confirming who the patient is, and which medicines may be prescribed after a remote consultation are your decisions, under the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines and your council's rules.