Guide
Video calls with patients
Start a video call from the patient's page, send the link, use the controls, look at reports during the call, and end it. The patient needs no app.
6 minute read
A video call in RxKite opens in the patient's browser from a link you send. Video and sound go directly between your device and theirs, encrypted end to end, and the call is not recorded. Video calls are on every plan, including Free.
You need a computer, tablet or phone with a camera and microphone, and an up-to-date browser such as Chrome, Safari or Firefox. The patient needs the same, on their phone or computer. Nothing to install for either of you.
1. Start the call
- Open the patient's page. If they are new, register them first, as for any prescription.
- Press Video call.
- The call opens in this tab. Your browser asks to use the camera and microphone: allow both.
2. Send the link
Above the call, under Send this link to the patient:
- WhatsApp opens WhatsApp with the link and the words "Your video consultation link:", addressed to the patient's mobile number when it is in their details.
- Copy copies the link, to paste into an SMS, an email or any other app.
- QR code: the same link as a code. If WhatsApp is on your phone and you are on a computer, photograph the code and send the photo. Press × to hide it; RxKite remembers that on this device.
Three things to keep in mind:
- Anyone with the link can join while the call is open, so send it only to the patient.
- The link stops working when you end the call, and after 3 hours at most.
- Keep this tab open, and stay on this page. The call's private key is only in this tab's address and is never stored on our servers. If you close the tab or go to another page in it, the call ends for you: start a new call and send the new link.
3. What the patient sees
They open the link and see your name, your clinic and a note that the call is private and not recorded. They press Join the call, and their browser asks to use the camera and microphone. A patient who cannot use video can press Join by chat only.
If they leave by mistake, they press Rejoin while the call is still open. If they see This link is incomplete, part of the link was lost on the way: send it again with Copy.
4. During the call
The patient's video fills the screen, and the small picture in the corner is you. The badge at the top says Encrypted, direct between devices once you are connected.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Mute | Turns your microphone off; Unmute turns it back on. |
| Camera off | Turns your camera off while the patient still hears you; Camera on turns it back. |
| Flip | Switches between the front and back camera, on a phone or tablet with both. With more than two cameras, the arrow beside it lists them. |
| Stats | Shows your upload and download speed and the delay between the two devices, with a green, amber or red dot. Hide stats puts it away. |
| Rotate | Turns the patient's picture a quarter turn, when their phone sends it sideways. |
| Share file | Sends the patient a photo or PDF. |
| End call | Ends the call for both of you. |
Beside the video (below it on a phone) is Messages and files: you can type there during the call, and see what the patient sends.
Look at a report during the call
When the patient sends a photo or PDF, a note appears with View. The file opens over the page: photos fitted to the screen, PDFs page by page. The video carries on as a small picture you can drag anywhere on the screen; its buttons mute you or take you back to the full video. Use the arrows to move between files, the download button to save a copy on your device, and × or Esc to close.
Files can be JPG, PNG or PDF, up to 5 MB each, and travel directly between the two devices, like the video.
5. Switch to chat, and back
Press Chat in the Chat | Video switch at the top. Both cameras and microphones turn off at once, and you carry on in text. The patient can do the same at any time.
To go back to video, press Video. The patient is asked, and the cameras turn on only if they press Turn on video. If they press Stay on chat, you are told. The patient can ask you in the same way, and you choose Turn on video or Stay on chat.
6. End the call
Press End call.
- If nothing was written or sent, the call ends and you are back on the patient's page.
- If there were messages or files, you choose what to keep before it closes, as at the end of a live chat.
The patient's page says the consultation has ended, and nothing from it stays on their device.
Then write and send the prescription: Digital prescriptions shows each step.
If the call does not connect
- Waiting for the patient to open the link: they have not opened it yet. Check they received the whole link.
- Connecting directly… for a long time, then Could not connect: the two devices could not reach each other. Some office, hospital and mobile networks block direct calls, and RxKite never routes video through a server instead. Ask the patient to switch from Wi-Fi to mobile data or the other way round, try another network yourself, or phone the patient.
- Connection lost. Reconnecting…: the network dropped for a moment. It reconnects by itself when it can.
- The camera and microphone are blocked: allow them in the browser's address bar, next to the web address, and reload the page.
- This is a voice call from your side: the camera could not be used, often because another app has it. Close that app and reload.
Privacy, in short
- Video, sound, messages and files go directly between the two devices, encrypted end to end. They never pass through RxKite's servers, which only help the two devices find each other.
- Calls are not recorded. RxKite keeps only a record that a call took place with this patient, and when.
- The patient's call page runs no visitor statistics and sets no cookies.
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.