At the time of this writing, our office has been closed for over 4 weeks. In an effort to protect my staff and our patients, I made the decision to lock our doors and only see patients in emergency situations. We are mailing batteries and supplies to patients so they can stay home as mandated by our governor.
So, with nothing going on in the office, I mentioned to my mother that I had no idea what I would write about in this month’s Senior Savvy article. As you know, I like to focus on relevant and current sharing of information that we experience in the clinic. But since our doors have been closed…no new clinic news.
My mom said that even though your doors have been closed you have been hard at work. Like everyone else, Jane, Beth, Jamie and I have been working from home. She suggested I share what we have been doing.
Staying in contact with our patients has been our primary objective. We have sent several emails informing patients of the status of our office and letting them know if they need anything just call. However, many of our patients do have email, so Jane has spent many hours calling those patients. Touching base and letting them know we are here for them and reconnecting with many people we have not seen in a while, has been time well spent.
With the use of tele-health, (video-conferencing) Jane has been able to troubleshoot hearing aid issues, instruct care-takers on proper cleaning procedures and re-pair Bluetooth enabled hearing aids to patient’s cellphones. We have sent receiver wires to patients in the mail and she has been able to walk them through proper replacement so they can hear again.
We had our mail forwarded to Beth’s home so she is posting payments, sending statements and retrieving phone messages. She is calling our local physicians to reconnect and confirm that their information is correct in our database. Every referring and primary care physician receives a report once an audiological evaluation has been completed, so having current correct information is very important.
Jamie probably has the most difficult job of all. Every morning she assumes the role of her son’s teacher. As the weeks have gone one, home schooling has become more challenging. We have always appreciated our teachers but our appreciation has risen to a new level. In the afternoons when Jamie is finished “playing” teacher she helps Beth with physician calls.
I have spent a good portion of my time trying to understand the government programs to keep my employees and ensure I can pay them. Understanding any type of government program that is constantly changing is difficult. The Hearing Solutions team is strong and together.
Our current efforts focus on providing online services through tele-health options. We hope to open soon and know we need to restructure our hearing healthcare services in order to provide a safe environment for our patients.
Know we are here for you. In your stay-at-home time be sure to visit our website (www.hearingsolutionsofnc.com) and like us on Facebook. Jane, Beth, Jamie and I hope to see you soon.