January 7, 2022
Colleagues:
I commend all you are doing amid the challenges we face with staffing and other problems brought on by the pandemic. Even though we have not had a statewide shut down, as with the last COVID-19 peak, our health care system is being overwhelmed. And much like the first time we did things differently, we need to do things differently again. I respectfully ask that you consider the following:
(1) Expand office hours and telehealth services to reduce volumes at urgent care sites and emergency rooms. The state’s emergency departments and the urgent care centers are overwhelmed with patients. Please encourage use of your telehealth services – and offer expanded office hours – to provide patients with prompt access to care and assist our clinical colleagues in addressing unprecedented patient volumes. Telehealth visits also reduce the risk of infection transmission to both patients and health care personnel. For patients, it’s not just the visit itself that imposes risk; the travel to the office may also expose patients to possible COVID-19 infection. Remember that primary care (as well as behavioral health and chronic disease management) have reimbursement rate parity between telehealth and face to face visits by statute until fall of 2023.
(2) Carefully evaluate testing you really need to make the next treatment step. When you do decide to order testing, please do so through your office, at an outpatient service site or at a state testing site. For those of you who are already doing this, I commend you. For others who might not be doing this as much, or at all, please consider a change in your care process. Wellforce is actively engaging with the state to facilitate testing and a message to the public on when to use the Emergency room or Urgent Care.
We are facing extraordinary times, which requires changes in our usual approach to problems. I appreciate all of your efforts and thank you for the compassion you continue to show to your patients and each other.
Thank you,
Frank Osborn M.D.
Interim Chief Medical Officer
