Office Procedures During COVID 19

Maintaining your health is our priority. If you are coming in for an in-office appointment, here is what you should expect

• • When you arrive to the office,  you will be asked screening questions to minimize COVID-19 risk to patients and staff.

• • To minimize exposure, please limit Guests or Family to one person if needed at your appointment.  If you need special assistance please contact us prior to your appointment.

• You can convert to a problem focused Telemedicine Video Visit if you need to discuss concerns, chronic medical issues, or medications with your provider.
  • If you have a fever, new onset cough, shortness of breath, any exposure to a known positive COVID-19 case, or you just feel unwell, we ask that you not come to the office but instead call us to determine appropriate next steps as we can offer a Telehealth visit or a respiratory visit.
  • For anyone with respiratory symptoms concerning for COVID-19 who warrants testing or needs a physical exam, we are seeing these patients outside of our office. We are asking these patients to drive to the outdoor car shelter in our back parking lot. All other patients should park in our front (closer to the road) parking lot.

Per Alaska Health recommendations we recommend that all Alaskans wear a cloth face covering in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. A cloth face covering is a material that covers the nose and mouth. It can be secured to the head with ties or straps or simply wrapped around the lower face.  This applies to everyone over 2 years of age entering our building irrespective of vaccination status.

In an effort to maintain safe distancing and to minimize exposures for our patients and staff, we are offering Telemedicine Video Visits when appropriate.

• • Chronic Medical Conditions: We can address some chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, anxiety or depression over Telemedicine Video Visits. In fact, keeping up on any chronic medical conditions is important to ensure you are as healthy as you can be.
  • Medicare Wellness:  Medical wellness visits are also available through Telemedicine.

There are some appointments that must be seen in the office, such as pre-chemotherapy evaluations, vaccinations and well child checks. Per the American Academy of Pediatrics, vaccinating children to protect them from other infectious disease and prioritizing newborn/infant care are primary mandates even during COVID-19.

• We are using Doximity for Telehealth visits.  You will receive a text message to your cell phone to join your appointment. This text must go to your cell phone and unfortunately at this time it cannot be used on your iPad or other tablet. Clicking here will take you to an overview of this process.
• Have you occasionally experienced poor audio quality during video calls on Doximity over the past few weeks? If you have an Apple phone we were informed that Apple fixed the problem with the release of their latest iPhone update, iOS 14.3. If you get the latest update from Apple, you will see significant improvements in audio quality and stability during Doximity video calls.
• We will try to call as close to the scheduled time as possible so please be in a safe and private location with good reception, good lighting and no distractions. Please have a flashlight available if you have a symptom your provider will need to assess over video (such as a rash or sore throat).
• This is like going to your doctor’s office so please refrain from public spaces for your visit. If you are in a public space such as the grocery store, we will have to reschedule your appointment.
• Please have your home blood pressures and blood sugar readings available for your provider to review. Do you use our Portal? If so, please send these home readings to your provider in advance of your appointment so you can discuss them together during your visit. Not a portal user but you’d like to try this now? Call our office to sign up.
• Please have your blood pressure cuff available so you can take your value at the appointment
• Please have your medications easily available in case you need more refills and so we can verify dosages.
• Make sure your device is plugged in and has a strong signal. Consider WiFi if your cellular data is limited.
• Using a headphone with a built in microphone makes it easier for you and your provider to hear each other.
• Please mute notifications on your phone.

This is a billable service and your insurance will be billed.