It Only Takes One Patient...
COVID-19
PREVENTION
By
Ray Foxworth
DC
No matter where you stand on the pandemic that turned our country and the world upside down earlier this year, it is essential to the success of your practice and for the profession to acknowledge it is not about us. Our patients’ points of view are as diverse as those within our profession. Some demanded the reopening of their communities while others are still taking precautions and hunkering down at home. We all have a responsibility as healthcare providers to take the extra steps to ensure the safety of our teams and the patients we serve.
The CDC has issued steps that we should take daily in our offices, from additional cleaning and disinfecting measures to the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks. We already feel that we are juggling a million responsibilities. These additional steps can feel like a tremendous burden and easily fall to the wayside as other job responsibilities take precedence. We must keep in perspective that these extra steps are necessary for the safety of our patients and ourselves. If you have become lax in maintaining post-COVID-19 standards in your office, it is time to make this a priority.
Start by educating your team on proper cleaning, including when to use PPE, how to put it on and take it off, and how to dispose of it properly. Training should also include the appropriate use of a disinfectant. Each disinfectant must remain on a surface for a certain amount of time for maximum effectiveness. You can look up this information on the EPA-registered household disinfectants list online. You will want to make your employees aware of the hazards associated with cleaning chemicals in your office in accordance with OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard. In your compliance manual, you need to file completed cleaning and disinfecting checklists each day.
Maintain a supply of cleaning supplies and PPE in your office. It also wouldn’t hurt to stock up on extra toilet paper to be sure that you aren’t caught with your pants down and struggling to locate necessary supplies just to remain open. Today is the ideal time to learn from the past and prepare for the future.
Documentation has never been more necessary. If it is not documented, then it did not happen. Carefully document your screening policy, share it with your staff, have them sign it, and file the signed document in their personnel records. Start and end each shift by screening each doctor and employee. File the screening results separately from employee personnel records. Screen patients as they enter the office and document their results in the patient records. If you don’t want to deal with that much paper, create a spreadsheet for each employee and list the opening and closing procedures across the top, as well as dates for the month down the left-hand side. Initial the screens when completed and file.
Educating your patients on what to expect in your office is essential. A friend recently visited his chiropractor. Although he leans more toward the “being cautious but not too worried” category of COVID-19, he felt that his healthcare provider was not taking the necessary steps to keep him and his family safe. That single visit led him to leave his chiropractor and look for another one in his area. He chose a provider who posted a video on social media that educated the community on the steps he and his team were taking to ensure the safety of their patients. The video walked them through what they should expect, from the check-in process to paying as they left. The goal is to have your patients touch as few surfaces as possible from the time they arrive until they leave.
Consider having your patients text you when they arrive at your office. Open the door for them as they enter the building. Eliminate the manual sign-in process to minimize contact with clipboards, pens, and iPads. The goal is to have your patients not touch a single surface until they arrive at the adjusting table. Open the door for your patients as they leave. If you have not implemented an auto-debit system yet, now is the time because it will give you and your team the ability to process payments without touching the patient’s charge card, check, or cash.
Stock your restrooms with single-use towels and antibacterial soap. Hand sanitizer should be available at the front desk and in waiting rooms, treatment rooms, therapy areas, etc., making it accessible for all of your employees and patients. Remove toys and magazines from waiting rooms. Post signs in each restroom with the steps for proper handwashing. Although this may seem like common sense to you and me, it may not be to others. There is a huge gap between knowing and doing. We know that we should floss our teeth, but only 60% of people do. We know that we should have a will, but only 40% do. (Esteb, 2018)
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages, technology companies everywhere have been rushing to build apps, services, and systems for contact tracing to identify and notify everyone who encounters a carrier. Some are lightweight and temporary, while others are pervasive and invasive. (Patrick Howell O’Neill, 2020) Don’t put yourself or the profession in a negative light by not taking a few extra steps to protect yourself, your team, your fellow chiropractors, and your community. We don’t know what will happen this fall, but we do know that we can prepare for the future now.
Download our free whitepaper on maintaining a safe clinical environment for your team and your patients at www. chirohealthusa. com/covid.
Dr. Ray Foxworth is a certified Medical Compliance Specialist and President of ChiroHealthUSA. A practicing Chiropractor, he remains "in the trenches" facing challenges with billing, coding, documentation and compliance. He has served as president of the Mississippi Chiropractic Association, former Staff Chiropractor at the G.V. Sonny Montgomery VA Medical Center, and is a Fellow of the International College of Chiropractic. To request a free one-page financial policy, send an email to [email protected].
