Dr. George Dempsey of East Hampton Family Medicine has two offices in East Hampton now, one where patients are seen in person, and one dedicated to “telehealth” visits, where patients are seen using any kind of face-to-face videoconferencing system available to them.
“Telehealth” and “telemedicine” are relatively new buzzwords — not a system born in the last few weeks, but one that the health care industry has developed widely in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a recent interview, Dr. Dempsey said his team was seeing about 45 to 50 patients per day by telehealth, and about 10 patients per day in person. Anyone who has respiratory symptoms or is suspected to have Covid-19 waits in his or her car and is seen there instead of in the office, Dr. Dempsey said.
“We really need upgrades to get better performance,” he said. “But we’re working. We’re keeping up with patients and taking care of them. They’re relieved, but it’s also pretty cool to talk to them while they’re at home. It’s great for us, too. I’m looking into advancing this.”
Dr. Erin McGintee, an allergist and immunologist who practices with ENT and Allergy Associates in Southampton, called the transition to telehealth “a real learning curve.”
“For a low-risk patient, sometimes that’s the safer choice,” she said. “As physicians, we would always rather be in the room with our patients, one on one. In the situation we’re in now, we have to take every patient on a case-by-case basis. What is safest for us, safest for the patient? It doesn’t mean we are withholding care.”
Dr. McGintee said she was seeing about 90 percent of her patients remotely last month. “The patients who are physically coming into the office are primarily coming in for injectable biologic therapy for severe asthma, or to receive allergy shots for life-threatening bee venom allergies. Those patients are pre-screened by me personally before they come in, and there is minimal person to person contact. . . . Fortunately, we have been able to help most of our patients using telemedicine, which is great, given the importance of social distancing right now.”
Dr. Steven B. Sobey, a urologist with the Meeting House Lane Medical Practice, began seeing patients virtually this week. The system integrates with his electronic records system, so it’s really easy to include notes in patients’ records, he said. So far, he has only had between five and 10 telehealth visits, and is still seeing a few people in the office as well.
“Definitely in urology, many patients still require in-person visits. That won’t change," said Dr. Sobey, who is also a clinical assistant professor of urology, and vice chair and chief of service in Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s department of surgery. “They require minor in-office procedures, and we give cancer treatments, too, in the office. That’s true amongst most specialties.”
Telemedicine is ideal for discussing test results, routine visits, treatment plans, and patients’ own questions, doctors say. And it’s an important way to limit face-to-face contact in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It is definitely helpful, especially right now when we want to protect ourselves, our patients, and our families,” Dr. Sobey said. “That’s one thing the health care workers are most worried about right now. We know that we are at risk and are scared about exposing our families to that virus.”
Stony Brook Southampton had already been experimenting with providing mental health services remotely, but the Family Service League has kicked it up a notch. Therapists, social workers, and psychiatrists began seeing their clients via videoconferencing about three weeks ago.
“All the insurance companies have signed off on this,” said Carol Magee, the program director of the Family Service League’s East Hampton office. “We’re ensuring [clients’] privacy and we’re able to do social distancing this way. . . . There will be continuity of care. There will not be an interruption, which would be the case if we didn’t do this. New York State really wants us all to be closed to physically having clients in the clinic.”
The Family Service League can still be reached by phone at 631-324-3344, but calls are forwarded to staff members’ own phone lines. When a client receives a call back, the call will come up without a caller ID number, and Ms. Magee said they should be mindful of that when they know they have an appointment.
“We’re here. We’re just here virtually,” she said. “We’re still open to everyone who needs help.”
Dr. Sobey said patients are rethinking what an essential health care need is, and even postponing getting care. “Do you really need to go into that office today? With the current concerns, people are letting a lot of things go when they would otherwise go in to see a doctor.”
Health care professionals agree that Covid-19 has changed the way medicine works, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“I’m talking to other doctors and I’m excited about doing consultations like multiple doctors with one patient,” Dr. Dempsey said, “instead of waiting for a consult and having another appointment. I think it’s going to be really efficient. It will open up a lot of things.”
Dr. Sobey predicted telemedicine will ultimately become part of regular medicine.
“I hope I can integrate it into my practice going forward,” he said. “It has the potential to be a really powerful tool to extend my office beyond the office.”