COVID-19 Updates 

Our Commitment to Providing Safe Care 

Screening: patients, families, and staff

• We screen all employees daily for symptoms. Anyone with symptoms of a possible respiratory illness is not allowed to work until symptoms have resolved. We are following strict guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• We screen visitors for symptoms. Any visitor with symptoms is restricted from entering Family Doctors.
• Patients with in-person appointments are screened for symptoms prior to their visit and again upon arrival. If symptomatic, patients are cared for via virtual (telehealth) visits.

Cleaning: hands and spaces

• We have increased the frequency and intensity of cleaning of all high touch areas throughout the building.
• We require frequent hand-cleaning and have added hand sanitizer stations so patients and staff­ can clean their hands easily and frequently.
• In addition to always wearing masks in the building, all employees will also wear gloves when in direct contact with patients.

Protecting everyone: patients, families, and staff

• We require everyone in the building—employees, patients, and visitors—to wear a mask at all times.
• We have rearranged spaces to accommodate physical distancing and prevent transmission of infections by removing chairs from waiting rooms, and in some high-use areas, installing plexiglass barriers.
• We limit visitors coming into the building. We require patients to come alone to their appointments unless the presence of a caregiver is required. Adult patients may not bring their children to appointments, and pediatric patients may not have siblings present during their appointments. All caregivers will also be screened prior to entering the building.
• We limit the number of providers and patients allowed in the building to allow for appropriate social distancing.
• We have closed our waiting room, and patients now wait in their cars where they will receive a call on their cell phone when the provider is ready to see them.

These steps have been set up for the protection of all Family Doctors employees, patients and visitors and are in accordance with MA DPH recommendations. They will be followed until further notice.

What to Expect at Your In-Office Appointment

• We ask that you arrive 20 minutes before your appointment so we may review the screening questions set up by the American Medical Association prior to entering the building. Please call 781-715-1106 to start the check-in process. Please wait in your car until you are called in by one of our staff.
• Once called in we will give you a surgical mask. We ask that you replace your mask with ours.
• We will then direct you to your room to await your provider.
• Our staff will be masked and maybe wearing face shields when doing procedures such as vital sign monitoring or blood draw.
• Our goal is to not “linger” in the room with our patients. As much as we would like more face-to-face time with our patients, it is safer for our patients and staff to be as quickly thorough as possible. The routine physicals will be shorter than before, focusing on the exam which we cannot complete by phone. If there are multiple conditions to be discussed a follow-up telemedicine appointment will be made. The focus will be on data collection, immunizations, and labs to keep our patients as up to date with medical care as possible. We of course want to address all of your concerns in our safest way possible.
• After your appointment, you will be escorted by one of our staff out the door by the ambulance bay to prevent additional contact with others.

During this difficult time, we welcome all suggestions to improve our patient care and flow. Your safety is our top priority. 

Family Doctors Telehealth Information for Patients

Telemedicine

Telemedicine is the practice of medicine using technology to deliver care at a distance over a telecommunications infrastructure, between a patient and their healthcare provider. Visits preferably use video technology but can also be done over the phone if video is not available. For video calls, you will use the camera in your cell phone, computer, or tablet. You will be able to see, hear, and talk to a provider at the clinic through video-conferencing, allowing you to be at home or another location.

As with any face-to-face appointment, you can have a family member or friend accompany you if you wish.

During the COVID-19 crisis, Governor Baker has issued orders for insurance companies to expand coverage to include telemedicine visits. The order specifies that all payers in the state “are required to allow all in-network providers to deliver clinically appropriate, medically necessary covered services to members via telehealth.” For specific information on what your insurance covers please contact your insurance provider directly.

Initiating the Appointment

You may call our front desk at any time and request an appointment with your provider. If you already have a telehealth appointment scheduled with a provider, you will receive a call within an hour of the designated time. If you have said that you are capable of doing a video visit, you will receive a text with a link for your visit through a secure HIPAA-approved application called Doximity.

The “Visit”

A telemedicine appointment is just like a regular appointment. You will sit in front of a camera where you will be able to see yourself and your health care provider on the screen once your session begins. These appointments are also called virtual visits.

Your provider will ask you questions and work with you to develop a plan of care, providing the same quality of care you would get in a face-to-face visit. Your provider will have full access to your chart. If necessary, your provider may also determine the need for an in-office visit and will coordinate that with you.

Please have a copy of your medications handy and any health data you have tracked recently including blood pressures, blood sugars, your weight, etc.

As with in-office appointments, a no show fee of $25 will be billed if you are unavailable at the time of your appointment.

Tips

• Make sure you’re in a quiet private location with good lighting and a strong internet/cell connection.
• Please do not schedule an appointment when you will be out running errands or around others that may impede your privacy.
• Stay close to your phone at the designated time of your appointment—as with in-person appointments, providers sometimes run behind so you may receive your call up to 60 minutes after your scheduled appointment.
• Should you miss your call, your provider will try again within 5-10 minutes. You can always call the front desk and reschedule if you are unable to connect.

FAQs

WE APPRECIATE ANY FEEDBACK ON YOUR VISIT DURING THIS TIME. PLEASE CONTACT OUR FRONT DESK AND OFFICE MANAGER MARYANN WITH ANY QUESTIONS/CONCERNS. 

COVID-19 Testing

• To keep our staff and patients as safe as possible we are not currently offering COVID-19 Nasal PCR swabs (rapid tests) in our office. We work closely with our affiliated partner North Shore Medical Center and they have provided an outdoor testing site at Union Hospital. To make an appointment please contact 617-724-7000.
• Our providers are also available for any questions on testing through telemedicine and order placing through our contact at NSMC.
• Along with our partners through NSMC we are not currently offering antibody testing. There is still substantial uncertainty and variability regarding the available tests and clinical interpretation of the results. The medical community is still trying to better understand the relationship between infection and immunity. We hope to be offering this test in our clinic when a reliable test is available. Stay tuned for updates.