The platform, and the student's seat in the visit
Video rotations use whatever HIPAA-compliant visit system your practice already runs. Nothing is swapped out and no new vendor appears. The student joins one of two ways. You add them to the visit link as a second participant, named in full so the patient can read who is present. Or they sit in your virtual waiting room and you admit them once the patient has agreed.
Pick one before day one and tell your coordinator, because it changes what the student is sent. A second-participant setup puts them on your visit invitations. A waiting-room setup gives them the room link and the habit of waiting quietly. Either way, the student never opens a visit alone.
The consent line, and the private call to present
Every visit opens with the patient hearing that a student is there. Give the student's first and last name, say they are a nurse practitioner student from a named school, say what they will do in the visit, and say the patient may ask for them to leave with nothing lost. Wait for a spoken yes before the camera goes on, then note the consent in the chart.
You still need somewhere to hear a presentation. Two arrangements work. A breakout room inside your platform, where the student goes while the patient stays on the call. Or a second channel: the student drops off, rings your cell or a separate meeting line, takes ninety seconds, and rejoins. Say how many minutes you will be gone, because quiet on a video call feels long.
Chart access, and the equipment that makes it bearable
The student needs the chart open while the visit happens, and that login comes from your practice's IT or EMR administrator, never from NPhours. Ask for a scoped account: read-only, or note drafting that cannot be filed without your signature, limited to the schedules the student is on, expiring on the last date. Request it the week the agreement is signed, since provisioning can take days.
Two pieces of hardware do most of the work. A wired headset with a boom microphone, so the student hears the patient and nobody shares a room speaker. And a second screen, so the chart sits on one display and faces on the other. If you work from a home office, test everything the day before.
- Scoped student login, expiring on the rotation's last day.
- Wired headset with a boom microphone, for both of you.
- A second screen, so the chart never covers a face.
- A rehearsal call the day before the first visit.
Logging a video encounter, and what your program permits
A video encounter is logged like any other, with one extra field. The student records the date, the visit length, the age band, diagnoses and procedures, their own level of participation, and the mode as telehealth rather than in person. You verify those entries in the log system the school uses, while you can still remember the patient.
How many of those entries count is the school's call, not yours and not ours. Some accept a whole rotation by video. Some cap the video share and want the rest in person. Some allow video only for follow-ups and medication management. The permitted mode is named on the card you accepted.
In order
- 01
Name your platform
Tell your coordinator which visit system you use and who administers it.
- 02
Choose how the student joins
Second participant on the invitation, or admitted from the waiting room.
- 03
Request the chart login
Scoped, read-only, expiring on the last day of the rotation.
- 04
Test the kit
Headset, second screen, wired network, one rehearsal call.
- 05
Run the first visit
Consent spoken aloud, student admitted, a short presentation off the call.
Open your hours, mark yourself available by video, and your coordinator sets this up with you.
Apply to preceptQuestions
Does NPhours provide the video platform?
No. You use the HIPAA-compliant system your practice already pays for and already trains staff on. NPhours arranges the student's seat in it, the consent wording, the chart request and the schedule. If your practice runs no video visits at all, your coordinator will say a video rotation is the wrong first one.
Who says the consent line, me or the student?
Either, as long as the patient hears it before the student appears on camera. Many preceptors let the student say it, because naming their own school out loud is useful practice. You confirm it and answer whatever the patient asks. Then document that consent was obtained, in the visit note itself.
What if a patient says no to a student?
The student leaves the call and the visit continues. No explanation is owed, and nothing is recorded beyond the fact that consent was declined. Warn the student in advance that this happens and that it is not about them. Those minutes are not logged as an encounter.
Can the student write in my chart?
Only if your practice wants that and your EMR supports a draft note that cannot be filed without your signature. Read-only is the simpler start and is enough for a first rotation. Either way the account belongs to your practice, is created by your own administrator, and closes on the final day.
Will a school accept a rotation done entirely by video?
Some will and some will not. The permitted mode appears on the card before you accept anything, so you are never guessing. If a school caps the video share, your coordinator books the in-person days from the start rather than letting them pile up in the last two weeks.
