J Am Board Fam Med
-
Examine use of office resources by primary care patients who were initially evaluated through telehealth, telephone, or in-person encounters. ⋯ Primary care providers used virtual visits to care for most patients presenting with potential COVID-19 symptoms, with many patients choosing telephone over telehealth visits. Virtual visits can successfully limit patient exposure to other people, and consideration could be given to increasing its use for patients with potential symptoms of COVID-19.
-
The worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to a global pandemic since its identification in Wuhan, China in December 2019.1 Few cases of COVID-19-associated dermatologic manifestations have been reported in the literature to date. This report describes the clinical features of a localized pruritic scarlatiniform rash of the ears and antecubital fossa on defervescence in a 29-year-old patient with COVID-19. Our case stands to further illuminate the dermatologic manifestations of this novel disease.
-
The SARS-CoV-2 epidemic has led to rapid transformation of health care delivery and access with increased provision of telehealth services despite previously identified barriers and limitations to this care. While telehealth was initially envisioned to increase equitable access to care for under-resourced populations, the way in which telehealth provision is designed and implemented may result in worsening disparities if not thoughtfully done. This commentary seeks to demonstrate the opportunities for telehealth equity based on past research, recent developments, and a recent patient experience case example highlighting benefits of telehealth care in underserved patient populations. Recommendations to improve equity in telehealth provision include improved virtual visit technology with a focus on patient ease of use, strategies to increase access to video visit equipment, universal broadband wireless, and inclusion of telephone visits in CMS reimbursement criteria for telehealth.
-
Primary care practices rapidly adopted telemedicine visits because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but information on physician perspectives about these visits is lacking. ⋯ Physicians reported that telemedicine visits offer new opportunities to improve the quality of patient care but noted changes to their interactions with patients. Many of these changes are positive, but it remains to be seen whether others such as lack of physical examination and loss of physical presence and touch adversely influence provider-patient communication, patient willingness to disclose concerns that may affect their care, and, ultimately, patient health outcomes.
-
As of May 13, 2020, 1004 health care worker (HCW) deaths due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported globally. This study seeks to organize deaths by demographic group, including age, gender, country, and occupation. ⋯ Among HCWs globally, in the United States there have been more reported deaths of physicians, primary care physicians, males, and HCWs versus opposing groups. Further research is needed to understand relative risks of death due to COVID-19 in each of these demographic groups.