Feeling fine with a doctor visit
For months, Houstonians have relied primarily on cellphones and computers to pay a visit to their physicians. But as things open up and COVID-19 case rates dip again in the state, a few are wondering: Is it finally time to go in-person for a checkup?
Here’s what five Houston doctors and dentists had to say about feeling safe and reducing your risk of catching the virus at a medical provider’s office.
What measures are health care providers taking to stay safe?
A doctor or dentist is there to treat the ill, not pass along illnesses. So you’ll find that any medical provider worth their salt will do a laundry list of things to make sure the office is sanitary and patients feel comfortable coming in to get treated.
“What you want to see is that they’ve pre-screened you,” said Dr. Ronald Rhea, who practices at The Dentists at Town & Country Village in west Houston, asking where you’ve traveled, whether you’ve previously contracted COVID-19 and whether you have any symptoms when you book an appointment. A good doctor’s or dentist’s office will repeat the screening process once you get there.
It’s standard practice these days to have a temperature check at the door and a policy requiring a mask while in the building, unless asked to remove it by a doctor.
Staff are sterilizing every square inch of the space — including pens to sign patient forms and doorknobs. A few offices are wrapping their credit card machines in plastic wrap, changing the disposable material between patients to prevent any kind of transmission. (The chances of COVID-19 transmission via surfaces are much lower when compared with transmission via droplets sneezed or coughed, however.)
And physicians are asking that only the person with the appointment come in, with a few exceptions — a minor may be accompanied by a parent or guardian, for example. Otherwise, the goal is to reduce the number of people sitting in a hospital or physician’s office.
“If they come with a ride, we ask that (the driver) sit in the car,” said Dr. Steffanie Campbell, who practices at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic in Pearland.
But how do we know that we won’t catch COVID-19 while in a waiting room? What if I have to take my mask off during the appointment?
If you and any others in the waiting room are wearing masks correctly, that shouldn’t be a concern, doctors said. For one, many
have removed chairs from their waiting rooms to create at least 6 feet of space between people.
But you may not even have the chance to be in the waiting room. Some physicians like Dr. Gary Sheppard, an internal medicine doctor in southwest Houston, have opted to keep patients waiting in their cars.
“We’ll call them, they come in, check in, but there’s nobody else in there because everybody else is waiting in their car,” said Sheppard, president-elect of the Harris County Medical Society.
Some visits, of course, necessitate removing masks — such as a dental cleaning. Those offices are running air filters practically 24/7 to purify the air. At Rhea’s office in west Houston, the staff also uses a hypochlorous fogger every few hours to clean the exam rooms. The fogger is a nontoxic disinfectant that kills “numerous types of viruses and bacteria,” according to a recent study in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
Instruments used to check and clean patients’ teeth are thoroughly washed and cleaned between patients, and they are put into an autoclave where high-pressure steam sterilizes the tools.
“We never take a chance,” Rhea said.
If I have COVID-19 symptoms, should I head straight to my doctor’s office?
The first thing you should do is call ahead and tell your primary care physician what symptoms you have. Possible COVID-19 patients might be seen in a different exam room, examined in their cars or given a telemedicine appointment instead.
Most cases aren’t severe, but the disease is still contagious, so physicians want as much time as possible to prepare to take care of a COVID-19 patient. The sickest patients could reach out to their doctor, but they’ll likely pass those people on to a larger hospital.
“If their symptoms are more serious and we really think that their risk is high for COVID and they’re very ill, we send them to the emergency room and call the emergency room ahead of time,” said Dr. Elizabeth Torres, an internal medicine doctor at SignatureMD in Sugar Land.
Do I have to get tested or quarantine before? Should I bring extra personal protective equipment in with me?
Keep your mask on you and don’t forget the hand sanitizer. If a face shield and gloves make you feel more comfortable, you can bring them. But there’s no need to quarantine yourself for 14 days before going into the doctor’s office. In fact, you should do the complete opposite, said Dr. Lisa Ehrlich, an internal medicine physician in River Oaks.
She’s worried that Houstonians are putting off important visits and letting urgent medical issues go unchecked because they’re afraid of catching the virus. But the most important thing to do when sick is seek professional medical advice.
“It would be a disaster,” Ehrlich said, “if we increased the barriers for coming in.”
Torres, the doctor in Sugar Land, said some patients may be asked to do a COVID-19 test before certain procedures. The longer you’ll be in the office, the higher the chance you’ll need one.
“If they have to sedate you, certainly they’re going to have you (get tested),” Torres said.
Can I do both telemedicine and in-person visits?
Yes. In fact, your doctors and dentists would prefer if you did a mix of the two.
It’s recommended to do a telemedicine appointment to manage a chronic illness such as diabetes, for instance, or therapy to manage addiction or mental illness.
If you are showing COVID-19 symptoms, try to schedule a telemedicine appointment with your physician so you don’t risk transmitting the virus in a doctor’s exam room. Over the phone or a video call, they can help assess your symptoms, order a coronavirus test and evaluate whether you need to go to an emergency room.
But that’s not a replacement for an in-person visit.
“Some of it, they just need to be in our office,” said Ehrlich, the River Oaks physician. “So we want to make sure that those patients are coming in and feel secure.”