Must-Have AI Telehealth Features for Medical Residents: What to Look for Before Implementation

Medical residents, in addition to their workload, are increasingly expected to conduct virtual visits, manage follow-ups remotely, and document care across both in-person and online settings. The administrative burden that comes with that is amplified by balancing their education with the piling documentation and to-dos. That’s why for those conducting virtual visits, an effective telehealth tool makes all the difference.

Here’s what the must-have telehealth features for residents are, where AI comes in, and why the right telehealth tool should be a part of a broader clinical AI suite.

Why Telehealth Is Gaining Popularity

Telehealth has shifted from a pandemic-era necessity to a standard avenue for delivering healthcare. Many patients have come to expect virtual options for follow-up visits, medication management, and routine concerns that don’t require a physical exam.

For residents specifically, telehealth offers practical benefits. Residents can manage larger patient panels, role-play more accessibly, and gain experience with a patient care model that will likely be a permanent part of their careers. The adoption curve that took many practices time to overcome has compressed considerably, and residency programs that have not yet integrated telehealth to some degree are increasingly the exception.

Where AI Enters the Picture

The combination of AI and telehealth has become quite relevant for residents, who face some of the highest documentation burdens in medicine. AI clinical decision support and AI scribes provide these residents with support for documentation, charting, surfacing medical literature, and more.

Integrating AI doesn’t eliminate a resident’s need to build clinical judgment. Every AI output should still be reviewed, checked, and edited. But it does help them build that muscle for roleplay and exercising their expertise, all while minimizing burnout.

Telehealth Features for Resident Doctors: 5 Must-Haves

1. HIPAA Compliance and Physician Privacy Protection

Security and privacy are non-negotiable for any telehealth tool, and they matter in two directions. The platform itself must be HIPAA-compliant, meaning patient information is protected, securely transmitted, and never used to train third-party AI models. Residents should never have to reevaluate or maintain this themselves, or wonder whether their adopted tool meets the standard. It should be built in from the start.

Additionally, physician privacy, including for residents, matters. A great telehealth tool should allow residents to call, text, and video-call patients without exposing their personal phone numbers. A platform that protects both the patient and physician is a must.

2. Clinical Decision Support

Telehealth platforms that include seamless access to clinical decision support give residents a way to surface and verify the latest in medical evidence. They can also verify drug interactions, get treatment recommendations, and think through differential diagnoses without context switching between apps. Clinicians simply have to type in a plain-language prompt, much like with a public-facing GPT tool, and they then receive evidence-based outputs to jumpstart their research.

Citations are key here. An AI-powered clinical decision support function, whether used in telehealth or in person, should include clear citations that a physician can verify. The best options go the extra mile, offering peer-reviewed outputs for that extra layer of trust.

3. AI-Powered Transcriptions

AI transcription tools that live-record telehealth visits remove much of the tediousness of virtual care. Dictating and typing notes while actively listening add friction to both the physician and patient experiences, and for residents still developing their clinical judgment, they can be a distraction.

AI scribe tools that record, summarize, and discard the original recording once complete effectively reduce the cognitive load that comes with a telehealth visit. The end summary will still require review and sign-off, but this streamlined approach to dictation puts more care back on the patient with every appointment.

4. Documentation Drafting

Beyond transcription, the ability for AI to draft a structured note, referral letter, or other piece of patient communication saves residents meaningful time. Documentation tools, often part of clinical decision support, take the raw material of a clinical encounter and format it according to a physician's preferences or specialty.

For residents concerned about burnout, this feature is crucial. The hours residents spend finishing documentation after a shift could be better spent studying, sleeping, or for general personal use. A well-rested resident is often a more focused one.

5. Mobile and Desktop Compatibility

Resident doctors seldom work from a single, predictable location. They might conduct a telehealth call over the phone, a video conference on their laptop, or send secure text messages from a tablet. A telehealth tool that functions well in both desktop and mobile contexts best supports the unpredictable workday.

Doximity Dialer and the Clinical AI Suite

Doximity Dialer meets each of these requirements as part of Doximity’s broader clinical AI suite, all while being accessible and free. It’s HIPAA-compliant by design, protects residents’ privacy through customized caller ID, and integrates with Doximity Scribe for seamless transcription and summarization. Doximity Ask also offers clinical decision management, including documentation support, drug monograph data, the latest in medical literature, and over 10,000 physician-reviewed outputs. Doximity is also available wherever residents work, be it through mobile devices, on desktop, or in person.

Over 85% of U.S. physicians are registered Doximity users, and it’s a trusted platform where many residents can build their professional skills and presence. Doximity can be implemented without IT support or coding, and its interface is user-friendly across Scribe, Ask, and Dialer.

For residency programs evaluating today’s telehealth platforms, the must-have features detailed in this article are more than nice-to-have. They are baseline functionalities for residents to adopt and use to thrive in their professional careers.

Get Doximity for Free

Doximity is free for verified U.S. physicians and medical residents, nurse practitioners, and PAs. Joining only takes a few minutes and requires your valid healthcare credentials.

From day one, Dialer, Ask, and Scribe can help residents streamline their always-demanding workflows. With the full clinical AI suite of accessible tooling, their education, training, and workload are simplified. Doximity improves patient care and the well-being of residents and healthcare professionals in the long run.