Covenant Medical Health System is making significant strides to get ahead of the continued spread of COVID-19. Among the recent developments are rapid testing results at their drive-thru clinic and an expansion of telehealth operations.
Dr. Chetlen Crossnoe, family medicine physician, demonstrated the technology they’ve incorporated during a zoom interview. Picking up the computer, he gave a brief tour of the exam room where he conducts his appointments. Aside from not being in the physical location, the setup feels like a normal visit to the doctor.
While the transition has been pretty smooth, there have been a few obstacles. When medical professionals started turning to telehealth as a way to see patients, there was some confusion about whether or not insurance companies would pay. Luckily, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas department of insurance settled the issue back in March.
On March 10, he asked that all COVID-19 costs be waived. "We must ensure no Texan is denied access to testing resources relating to coronavirus," he said. "Texans who are concerned that they may have coronavirus should seek medical attention in the most appropriate setting, and telemedicine is a good first medical encounter for anyone experiencing mild symptoms.
According to Crossnoe, the other obstacle boiled down to technology. Within the first few weeks of starting telehealth appointments, there was a lot of trial and error. He explains he’s now done about a dozen appointment. “We’re really getting fired up and getting people scheduled this way.” He anticipates that most physicians in their system will move to this method of seeing some of their patients—only those that can receive adequate healthcare virtually.
The appointments are conducted using the zoom app. The nurse contacts the patient before the appointment to go over information regarding their visit. It’s very much like a regular doctor’s appointment. And Crossnoe thinks these temporary changes may foster some permanent ones.
“This has really pushed us to do some things that we’ve kind of been resisting for a while,” he says, “and I think that’s going to be a good thing because we’re starting to see some promise for some kinds of visits, we might be able to do this forever.”
Along with the development in virtual patient visits, Covenant’s latest drive thru clinic now has rapid results for COVID-19. Patients who are tested for the coronavirus can now receive the results within 15 minutes. Dr. Beth Cochran explains that these quick answers will allow them to stop the spread more efficiently. “Rather than waiting for this result for three days and then starting to notify people around them that may have been exposed,” Cochran says, “We’ve got that in 15 minutes. We can start to look for other people who may be exposed.”
Currently, the drive-thru clinic in Wolfforth is scheduled to end on April 19th, but Cochran says that they will reevaluate that time frame closer to the date. More than likely, it will be extended.
