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The following article was published in Your Health Magazine. Our mission is to empower people to live healthier.
Janay Taylor, MSN, CRNP
The Coronavirus and Primary Care Practices
Taylor Integrated Health, LLC

The Coronavirus and Primary Care Practices

The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has been a global catastrophe for everyone. The closings of non-essential businesses, schools, court systems, and gyms have caused a major financial crisis for America. While others are closed, essential businesses suffer even though we are open.

Once the shutdown order began clinic hours were greatly reduced, by half or more. Staff are screened as they enter the clinic and everyone wears masks and gloves for patient care. Regular cleanings to disinfect are usual practice. Some local practices have had a lot of difficulty buying gloves, masks, and sanitizer from medical supply companies. Luckily, our practice already had some already in stock, otherwise we would not have been able to purchase them.

The reduction in hours has caused a financial strain on almost every practice. Employees are still working and still need a paycheck. Applying for small businesses loans might help if the banks and SBA actually responded, or if you could find a lender.

Screening patients before they enter the clinic entails the following: temperature checks, screening patients for clinical manifestations of coronavirus, traveling inquiry, and coronavirus exposure. If the patients meet the criteria, they are permitted to enter. If not, they are turned away with a coronavirus order.

The coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult to see and manage patients because we have to protect ourselves as well. Patients need to be cared for, but if a patient is turned away this may result in negative feelings towards the practice and staff. Some patients are scared to leave their home and are calling for refills, review of labs and diagnostic results.

Coronavirus test kits are scarce, as well as the personal protective equipment (PPE). Coronavirus orders are being put in on the prescription monitoring website. Those are reviewed with the patient, and in some instances the results also need to be faxed to the patient’s employer.

Certain patients are eligible for a telehealth or phone visit, but most need a face-to-face visit. Those patients are still coming to the office for chronic disease visits, physicals, well-women’s visits, pain management, and suboxone visits. These visits must be face-to-face because all the visits will require blood work or drug screenings. Even though we are in a pandemic, relaxing guidelines for certain things is not a good idea.

This will be our new normal for a while and we all must continue to be flexible and adaptable.

Everyone – please stay safe, continue to wear your PPE , practice social distancing, and stay home when possible. We will all celebrate when this is over.

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