How COVID-19 Is Affecting Urology Treatment
The coronavirus has caused havoc around the world and forced many industries to change the way they carry out operations. One of the sectors that is affected the most is medicine and, in particular, specialist areas such as urology.
With social distancing being encouraged, it is challenging to examine patients, which has posed a significant challenge. However, physicians and their staff have been able to partially overcome this hurdle by working remotely. It means doctors have continued to render reasonable care and accomplish the recommendations as laid out by the Ministry of Health, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus prescriptions still getting fulfilled, and laboratory results obtained without the patient having to be physically present in the office. Follow-ups are also happening remotely, which is a huge plus both for patients and the health care team.
In the short-term, virtual appointments have managed to work, especially for patients that usually face difficulties coming to the surgery. Apart from the examination, this method also gives subtle insights into how patients are dealing with their urologic issues.
However, there are limitations to this process, such as low video quality and poor access to technology. Urology also still has significant surgical components, and these procedures cannot yet be taken care of remotely.
Thankfully most stakeholders are addressing the limitations of digital care, so there may be even better options for virtual appointments in the future even beyond the pandemic itself. Interestingly, the government has finally come to understand the importance of having digital options for care – prior to this these were essentially not supported financially, leaving burden almost entirely on health care providers.
In the meantime, the recommendations for COVID-19 pandemic behavior will continue to evolve, so if changes happen relatively quickly, do not be too surprised. We will stay up to date with the latest trends to provide our patients with optimum solutions.
With many years of experience, Dr. Pierre Urology will help you with all your Urology needs in Ottawa, Ontario. We continue to support patients, provide surgical treatment, and follow-up chronic urologic issues.
We’ve also played an instrumental role in developing the Ontario eReferral program and Access to Care Surgical Wait Time Dashboard program, which makes us proactive when it comes to technology, especially when challenges such as the COVID-19 crisis arise.
If you have any questions about urology, please contact us by clicking here. To learn more about the other services we have to offer, please click here.