Serving Harris, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Montgomery and Galveston Counties
HOUSTON
Volume 11 | Issue 3
Inside This Issue
March Edition 2021
Telemedicine for Medical Practices During COVID-19 By David O. Hester, FASHRM, CPHRM, Director, Department of Patient Safety and Risk Management; Devin O’Brien, Esq., Deputy General Counsel, VP Doctors Company
I Nexus Health Systems Launches Neurospecialty Rehabilitation Unit See pg. 10
INDEX Legal Matters........................ pg.3 Oncology Research......... pg.5 Mental Health...................... pg.6 Healthy Heart......................pg.11 Financial Forecast............ pg.12
VA Offers Millions In Grant Funding For Adaptive Sports To Support Disabled Veterans See pg. 13
f your practice is among those seeking to ramp up telemedicine visits for patients during the coronavirus pandemic, there’s good news — you’re covered for liability and we can point you to resources to get you started. As the outbreak spreads, many practices are grappling with declines in patient visits. Virtual visits may give patients and practices alike peace of mind from the worry of the spread of infection. For example, phone use can reduce viral exposure during office visits. Some practices are creating cell-phone waiting areas, instead of gathering patients in their waiting rooms. After patients check in, they wait in their cars with their phones, ready to receive a call saying their provider is ready for them. While not true telehealth, cell-phone waiting shows how practices can use existing technologies to reduce COVID-19 exposure. While telemedicine has a spectrum of uses, there are two critical channels in which it can play a critical role during the current crisis: • It can be an essential tool both
in keeping your patients at home, and in reducing the traffic and potential contagion in your offices. Many typical office visits—such as explaining test results and follow-up visits, can be accomplished via telehealth rather than in-person office visits. • It can be an invaluable tool in screening potential coronavirus patients, especially with the current limited access to testing. If patients fear they have the virus, you can guide them in a video call through a symptom check—if they are not
currently displaying symptoms you can schedule for another video call. If they are exhibiting symptoms and you want to see them in-person, you can schedule them to come at times designated for sick visits and better separate them from patients who need to come in for well visits. Some practices may not think they are using telemedicine when in fact they already are. Telemedicine encompasses a range of care options, see Telemedicine ..page 14
What You Need to Know After Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine
A
s the long-awaited COVID-19 back to normal life, it can be vaccine rollout begins across the confusing to understand what country and everyone is eager to get you can and cannot do once you and those around you are vaccinated. A Baylor College of Medicine vaccine expert weighs in on why we still need to be cautious of spreading the virus in the community. First, it is important to get both doses of the vaccine for full protection. “Once we have our first dose of the vaccine, there is a degree of protection that starts to kick in,” said Dr. Hana El Sahly, associate professor
of molecular virology and microbiology and of medicine – infectious diseases at Baylor. “But the information and data we have about the effectiveness of the vaccines are really about two doses. So see Vaccine ... page 14
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO 1 HOUSTON TX