Health care providers turn to telehealth to focus on safety during pandemic
If you're injured and need physical therapy, the pandemic doesn't stop your pain.
At every level, medical providers are trying to do as much as they can online through telehealth to keep themselves and their patients safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
During this emergency, many insurance companies are covering virtual visits.
Kenny Biggs, a physical therapist at BreakThrough PT in Cary, was able to help a teacher with intense, chronic pain remotely from his office.
“We can reach people where they are,” Biggs said. “You have the high-risk population, people who don't want to leave their home or have family members that are immuno-compromised. They can reach us, we can reach them, from wherever they are.”
At the UNC Adams School of Dentistry, dentists are working with patients over the phone and online through a program called Carolina Dentistry.
“Patients will continue to have dental problems during this crisis we’re in,” Dr. Shawn Matthews said. “That will not just suddenly stop because we’re in the middle of a pandemic.”
Matthews says the goal is to triage patients and help those who need emergency dental care get to a provider.
“All non-urgent – what we call routine dental care – has been stopped or should be stopped for patients,” Matthews said. “Only emergency dental care should be provided for patients.”
Dr. Tom Ju, of National Spine and Pain Centers, treats patients dealing with chronic pain in Cary.
“We’ve been following this COVID-19 pandemic very closely, and we were able to roll out our telemedicine infrastructure in less than a week,” he said.
“It really allows us to be able to serve our patients, to serve the community, in a safe way,” he added.
The goal is to keep them out of the hospitals.
“If you don’t get these medications to the patients, their pain becomes intolerable, and they might end up in the emergency room, which is absolutely where you don’t want to be right now,” Ju said.
Providers say there is no substitute for seeing a patient in person, but during a pandemic, this is the next best thing.
