Strategy 2: Reimagine schedule capacity
The waxing and waning of the COVID-19 crisis presents an opportunity to evaluate our office practices and make necessary and positive changes. The question becomes, do we operate our practices as usual or do we rethink our strategy for seeing patients and integrate lessons learned from the pandemic? Patients are deciding when they are comfortable to schedule elective surgeries and routine office encounters. This gives us the chance to break from the tradition of 100% in-person visits and change the way we care for women.
The coronavirus has accelerated the rise of telehealth/telemedicine and is, perhaps, a silver lining of the pandemic. Telehealth is a valuable tool for accessing health services when in-person visits are not possible. Evaluating and triaging patients for in-person versus telehealth visits is now a viable option for clinical practice and reduces exposure to COVID-19 infection.
Telemedicine is convenient, and clinicians can use it to counsel and screen for various health issues as well as to extend their reach to rural communities. Appropriate consent should be documented in the patient chart. As some areas continue to be without adequate access to WiFi, telephone contact also is currently acceptable. Telehealth does not replace the in-person visit but can be viewed as a complementary and supplementary service.
Consider a balance between telehealth and in-person visits by evaluating which visits can continue remotely and which can alternate with in-person visits. This offers tremendous flexibility and will expand delivery of essential health care to patients.10 Integrating telemedicine into clinical practice provides an additional benefit: It minimizes the exposure and transmission of COVID-19 to health care workers and patients and preserves supplies, including personal protective equipment (PPE).
Prioritize the backlog of patients who require follow-up testing, procedures, and surgeries. Communicate with patients that it is safe to be seen and important to not avoid routine and preventative visits that might reveal concerns or conditions that require treatment.
Strategy 3: Institute infection prevention and control measures
The importance of instituting and ensuring safety measures for office personnel and patients cannot be underestimated. Recently, a study from King’s College in London found that frontline health care workers with PPE still have 3 to 4 times the risk of contracting coronavirus compared with the general public.11 Health care systems should ensure adequate PPE availability and develop additional strategies to protect health care workers from COVID-19. We have to be fanatical about cleanliness and PPE. We have to be diligent about how we space ourselves and our patients. Consider adjusting workflows to ensure that visits can be conducted as quickly and safely as possible.
Communicating updated safety plans and processes are invaluable for both patients and health care workers. Patients want to be reassured that safety precautions are in place to keep the environment safe and clean. Additionally, privacy and confidentiality concerns should be addressed.
Consider a modified office schedule that can reduce the number of people in the office, person-to-person contact, and COVID-19 transmission. Social distancing is improved and PPE and other supplies are preserved.
Continue to: Employees can work on alternating days...