7/13/20 Updated COVID-19 Office Policies

As cases of COVID-19 continue to increase in Atlanta, we are working hard to keep our patients and our staff safe and healthy!  As we have been throughout this pandemic, our office remains open and available to take care of your children, both for well and sick visits!  We recognize that this is a very challenging time, and you may have concerns about bringing your child to the office.  We have many new safety practices in place to help us give your children the care they need, while keeping everyone as safe as possible.  In addition to frequent and careful cleaning, these are some of the new practices you may notice.

Due to continued limitation in supplies and protective equipment, we are currently NOT testing for coronavirus in the office.  We understand that many families are frustrated at the difficulty of accessing testing, and we agree!  Unfortunately, accurate and timely testing is still difficult to come by, even for healthcare providers.  As increased testing and PPE supplies become available, will will continue to readdress this issue.  If your child needs testing for COVID-19 now, please visit https://www.choa.org/medical-services/wellness-and-preventive-care/covid19-testing for more information about testing sites, or contact your county public health department. If you need an order or referral, please call our office and we can set up a telemedicine appointment to discuss!

Scheduling practices:

• We continue to see well patients ONLY between 8am and 1:30pm.  It is very important that our families of healthy infants and children can feel comfortable bringing their children for routine care and vaccines.  Therefore, if your child has any symptoms that might be associated with a contagious illness (runny nose, cough, fever, rash, vomiting, diarrhea etc), you will be asked to make an afternoon appointment.  If your child needs a well visit, but also has these types of complaints, we are happy to do their well check in an afternoon slot.
• We continue to offer telemedicine appointments, which can be completed at any time of the day.
• Patients with symptoms or exposures concerning for possible COVID-19 infection will be asked to schedule a telemedicine visit with one of our providers, rather than directly being scheduled for an in-office visit.  If after your telemedicine visit, you and your provider feel that your child needs to be evaluated in person, we will then schedule you for an in-office visit.  

When you come for your visit:

• Everyone ages 2 and older entering our office is required to wear a mask.  We ask that all family members leave their mask on during your entire visit to the office, to protect you and those around you.
• Family members and patients will have their temperature checked and answer a COVID-19 screening questionnaire upon arrival.  Please leave any family members who are not feeling well at home!
• We ask that families make every effort to limit the number of people coming to appointments.  Whenever possible, please bring just 1 adult to accompany the children being seen for a visit.  In certain circumstances, we may allow up to 2 adults, such as newborn visits.  Please try to leave additional family members, including siblings, at home if at all possible.
• Adults or siblings who have tested positive for COVID-19 or who have a pending COVID-19 test should NOT come with their child to the office.  Mothers who are positive for COVID-19 during delivery should ask a family member who is negative for COVID-19 to bring the baby to his/her appointment. 
• We recognize that additional family members may wish to be involved in their children's care, and are more than happy to have parents or other family members join visits virtually via FaceTime or other video chat apps if desired.  

What should I do if my child was exposed to coronavirus?

Remember that the vast majority of children who are exposed to COVID-19 will do very well.  Most children have no symptoms or only mild illnesses and will recover without needing additional medical care.  However, we do encourage our families to take exposure to COVID-19 seriously and follow all CDC and DPH guidelines regarding self-quarantine.

• Patients with symptoms should self-isolate until they have been at least 3 days without fever (and not using fever medicines) AND until at least 10 days from the beginning of symptoms.
• Patients exposed to someone with COVID-19 should self-isolate for at least 14 days from the last known exposure
• Please visit https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/if-youve-been-exposed-to-the-coronavirus for additional information.
• If your child is very ill, having trouble breathing, having prolonged fever, is not able to keep down fluids, or you have other significant concerns, please take him or her to the ER for evaluation.

We look forward to continuing to take care of our patients and their families during this difficult time.  If you have concerns or questions about our policies, or if you would like to schedule an appointment, please call us!

-The Old 4th Ward Pediatrics Team