As a primary care physician, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected my practice in a number of ways. One of the most significant and challenging was transitioning to telemedicine as a primary means of meeting with patients.
At the beginning of the pandemic, staff and patients were scared to come into the office out of fear of possibly being exposed to the virus. As a result, many people canceled routine physicals and follow-up visits. This presented a challenge in the way we care for patients.
Telemedicine has been really helpful in accessing patients during the pandemic, but it hurt us in other ways and led to poor health outcomes for some people. There’s no way to replicate the advantages of physical touch during an exam. So we struggled in some cases to make diagnoses without that ability.
Read more here: https://www.verywellhealth.com/wellness-visits-5324871
