COVID-19 & Podiatry

All patients and healthcare providers lives have significantly changed since the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States. We have had to take extreme measures to do our part in helping mitigate the spread of the virus, such as screening questions prior to appointments and rescheduling non-essential appointments. At the same time, there is still a need to see urgent and emergency-type patients.

To start, we will be following all of the CDC’s most up to date guidelines to patients who must be seen. As of this time, this will include:

·        Rescheduling all non-essential appointments

·        Cancelling all elective surgeries

·        Screening patients for COVID-19 symptoms over the phone prior to their appointment

·        Limiting the amount of time patients spend in the waiting room by asking people to remain in their vehicle until their appointment.

·        Restricting entry to anyone accompanying a patient, unless it is essential for the visit (e.g. a parent accompanying a minor, a translator, etc.)

·        Maintaining as much social distancing as possible

While we always strive to provide a clean office, and our sterilization standards for instruments has always been robust enough to eliminate any viral or bacterial transmission, we are taking additional steps on top of what our existing protocols are. This includes things such as using additional sanitation wipes to wipe down any surface patients may have come into contact with after every patient visit, and handwashing/sanitization for at least 20 seconds before and after interaction with a patient.

Podiatric-specific conditions which should still be evaluated amidst the crisis in patient who are asymptomatic for COVID-19 include the following

·        Infection

·        Fractures

·        Post-operative visits

·        Initial wound care evaluation

We also offer real-time audio/video telehealth office visits via Skype and FaceTime.  This keeps you safely at home and gets you advice for your foot or ankle condition.  Many podiatric conditions can wait to be seen, however if one feels they would benefit from advice from a physician, we are willing and able to provide recommendations until the threat from COVID-19 dissipates and it is safer to resume seeing individuals in the office with non-urgent or non-emergent problems.

We thank you for your participation, cooperation, and understanding of these new practices during this national emergency.

Informative Flyer from ACFAS (PDF)