As we are trying to limit patient traffic through our office during this difficult time, I am thrilled to announce new telemedicine options for ob and gynecology consults.
What is telemedicine? Telemedicine means that you can have confidential access to YOUR doctor or nurse practitioner from the comfort and safety of your home. A lot of what we do in medicine is listening and talking and counselling and coming up with a diagnosis and treatment plan, and that can be done just as easily in a remote setting. We can even look at incisions or bumps or rashes in this format since it is private and secure
How does telemedicine work? First, we schedule an appointment time for your visit and update your insurance information and any demographic information that may have changed since your last visit here. Then, one of the medical assistants Eli or Pattie will call you to update your medical information, and finally, at the time of your visit (it can be a a few minutes delayed since we are still seeing urgent and pregnant patients in the office and are still delivering babies ) you will get an email with the link to your visit. Click on the link and Terri or Dr. Gottfried will be there to speak with you.
What kinds of visits can be done with telemedicine? Any visit that doesn’t require immediate physical exam, ultrasound or lab test can start this way. Birth control consults, birth control pill refill visits, Abnormal bleeding, rash or new skin lesion checks, wound checks, questions about pregnancy symptoms or problems, menopausal symptoms, even consults for our new Viveve procedure, which treats bladder leakage (which can be very helpful if you are coughing or sneezing a lot or exercising more at home). Also, this kind of visit is ideal for consults about lab results or ultrasound or biopsy results.
What are the costs of telemedicine visits? If you are pregnant, these visits are part of the ob package. For gyn visits, these are billed to your insurance just like an office visit, but using different codes Even AHCCCS and Medicare are encouraging patients and doctors to do visits using this technology.
In summary, we are here for you both in person and remotely. While we are asking routine visits to wait until the recommendation for staying at home has been lifted, we are available for pregnancy and gynecology problem visits and your other female health needs. We still are offering in house ultrasound and laboratory services for your convenience . Please call with any questions or book online through the website.
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