How to Ensure You Have a Great Appointment

We understand your telepsychiatry appointment might feel intimidating, but there is no need to worry! With some preparation, you can be sure to have a great visit and finish the session satisfied, and not feeling like the technology was at all a hindrance to connecting with your provider.

Test Your Call Quality

1. Choose an appropriate setting

You will want to plan ahead to make sure that you have privacy for the entire duration of the appointment. For most individuals, this is a private room in their home or apartment, but some individuals may need to leave their home, go out to their vehicle or to a nearby park to ensure they have that privacy. Please do not attempt to drive during the appointment. If you want to incorporate some family in the appointment for part of the visit, keep in mind they could also join the session remotely (you would need to share the link with them). If you are going to be at work, you may want to schedule the appointment during your lunch break so that you can easily step away without a distraction.

Note: you must be physically located in Montana for us to see you for your appointment. Please schedule appointments around any times you will be out-of-state.

2. Choosing the appropriate technology

You will need:

• Either a computer or a smartphone with a camera
• Headphones (optional but can help reduce echo and mic cutout when the other individual speaks)
• A stable internet connection

Please ensure you are using either a Google Chrome or Safari browser.

3. Test Your Call Quality

​Having fast, reliable internet is crucial to having a good visit. If your bandwidth/speed is slow, the video will lag and cut out causing a frustrating experience. For some people in poor cellular coverage areas, this means getting on a Wi-Fi network. If you have good cellular signal strength, you can most likely use your cell service but keep in mind that if you use your cellular network, the data transferred will be deducted from your monthly limit. 

You should also test your device to make sure the settings are correct for both the microphone and video to work properly.

​Select the button below to test your internet connection, microphone, and camera. The page will also give you troubleshooting tips and tricks to improve your camera and microphone quality.

​Note: you will need to give the website permission to access your camera and microphone in order to run the test.

Test Your Call Quality

4. Video Tips

If your provider can’t see you well, it will make it more difficult for them to pick up on certain non-verbal cues. We depend on these visual cues to communicate and to help us understand your emotions. By ensuring we can see you, we will be able to understand you better, leaving you more satisfied that you delivered your point to us.

• Try to maximize front-facing lighting, and minimize lighting behind you.
• Try to have most of your upper torso visible, from about your abdomen and up including your arms.
• If using a phone, prop it up on a stable surface to make it more steady (refrain from holding it). A stable image would be very much appreciated by your provider, and will help you take your mind off having to hold your phone.

5. Joining Your Appointment

1. Ensure you are on the device that you would like to join your appointment from.
2. Click the link in either the text or email confirmation to join your appointment.
3. You will be asked to agree to our Telehealth policy prior to beginning the appointment.
4. Your provider will join the appointment when they are ready.
5. Have a great visit!