COVID-19 Healthcare Dilemmas: Telehealth or Office Visit
During the first weeks of the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that non-emergency healthcare providers delay routine or elective office visits.
This was intended to help preserve personal protective equipment (PPE) needed by frontline hospital workers treating COVID-19 patients. However, this also potentially resulted in non-COVID-19 patients underutilizing medical services when needed.
When Should Chronic Disease Patients See Their Doctors?
The coronavirus is, and has been, dominating the news. However, other health problems, including chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and ulcerative colitis, have not disappeared.
For many chronic disease patients, their condition places them in the high-risk population. As a result, managing their disease is just as challenging as ever before.
Physician offices continue to see patients, and many offer telehealth consultations. Yet this creates a healthcare dilemma for chronic disease patients who wonder if it’s better to have an in-person doctor visit or if telehealth is the better choice.
To answer this question, the first person a patient should speak to is their primary care physician or specialist. Medical associations such as the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology are also a good source of information that is easily accessible through the Internet.
An important consideration is the actual guidelines issued by states or cities regarding doctor appointments. These rules continue to change as restrictions ease up, so it’s always a good idea to check the local health department website for up to date information.
What is Telehealth?
Telehealth is an umbrella term that encompasses the use of various technological platforms to provide health care services at a distance. The primary telehealth tool is video chats, which allows patients to consult with their doctors from their homes or offices.
Telehealth or In-Office Visits? Which Is Better?
Telehealth consults seem to work best when patients have minor concerns about their symptoms or medications or to keep physicians up to date with their overall health condition. However, when new or worsening disease symptoms arise, physicians may need to see the patient in person to evaluate the severity.
Some health issues require an in-person visit, especially if a physical examination or a formal assessment is needed to prescribe a new or modify an existing treatment.
For chronic disease patients receiving in-office biologic infusion treatments, regular doctor visits are often needed to maintain the benefit of the therapy. In-office biologic infusion treatments don’t just reduce disease symptoms, they also help control flare-ups. Therefore, it can be important for patients to keep their treatment appointments.
Precautions for In-Person Doctor Visits
Physicians should be taking extra precautions to ensure their offices provide a safe environment for patients. These may include, reducing the number of people in waiting rooms, implementing rigorous cleaning and disinfecting protocols, requiring the use of face coverings for both patients and staff, and maintaining physical distance when possible.
Patients should call ahead and not show up unannounced. Patients must also adhere to all the recommendations provided by their doctor and office staff to ensure that everyone remains safe.
At Altus Biologics, we continue to supply in-office biologic infusion centers with all the necessary supplies so that patients can obtain the full benefit of their treatments and manage their disease during the COVID-19 health crisis.
