Image Credit: National Cancer Institute

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: How the pandemic has changed the way we do medicine

Jul 18, 2020 | 6:49 AM

I HAD AN APPOINTMENT with my doctor this week. He was in his office in Vancouver; I was in my house. We met on FaceTime.

Actually, I have several doctors. My nurse practitioner takes care of the basics and whenever she thinks we should look into something in more detail, she refers me to a specialist. It’s a great system.

During the pandemic, it’s gotten even better as doctors have done more and more consultations by phone or teleconference. Unless you actually need a physical examination, there’s no point in driving to a doctor’s office or a clinic.

Discussing test results or renewing prescriptions, for example, can just as easily be done by phone and is tons more efficient. The healthcare giver saves time and can talk to a lot more patients in a day at a much more leisurely pace. The patient also saves time, and gets more attention from the doc.

The usual rigmarole of trundling into an office, announcing yourself at the front counter, waiting for your turn and then being ushered into an exam room to wait some more, pretty much shoots an entire day. Avoiding office visits solves that and it’s got to be much less cost to the system, too. The only thing missing is those six-month-old magazines in the waiting room.

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It’s not all good, though. Getting a blood test at one of the local labs is more complicated and takes a lot of patience. In order to ensure social distancing, the number of people in the waiting room is severely limited, unlike pre-pandemic times when patients were packed in, standing room only.

Now, chances are you’ll end up standing outside waiting your turn. Hopefully, there will be chairs on the sidewalk — spaced six feet apart — because it will likely take at least a couple of hours. Bring a book and something for shade if it’s a hot day. The smarter thing to do is to make an appointment rather than doing a walk-in.

COVID-19 is forcing take-a-number medicine to make changes. Some of them — like phone visits — will probably become permanent. Video conferencing has been a thing for those living in remote areas for quite some time but it will likely become much more common. Terms like telemedicine and virtual care will become more familiar.

We can now consult with our doctors on our cellphones or home computers. For my talk with the doctor in Vancouver, I was offered a choice of Skype, Zoom or FaceTime. Kind of a video-conference smorgasbord. With security issues now being removed, online appointments are taking off. In B.C. doctors are allowed to bill at the same rates as for in-office appointments. An article in the Vancouver Sun by Dr. Tom Elliott, medical director at B.C. Diabetes, says provincial governments across the country are embracing this new way of doing things, and so are patients.

“Not only can we deliver more efficiently for patients who reside in urban cores, we have found the key that picks the lock for delivering the same standard of care for those who live in rural or isolated regions,” he says.

“Technological innovation has been the driving factor that has delivered an unprecedented increase in quality of life across the Western world over the last 100 years. There’s no reason not to embrace it further.”

The need for speed in fighting COVID-19 has had the effect of removing barriers for making all sorts of changes in the way healthcare is provided, including telemedicine. As some have put it, the pandemic offers a chance to recalibrate.

The whole working-from-home issue comes into play with doctors as much as anyone else. With the need for face-to-face appointments reduced, think of the savings that could be effected by not having to maintain downtown offices and staffing full-time.

Kamloops City council this week debated the implications of home-based professionals during a wide-ranging discussion on zoning. Should doctors, lawyers, accountants and other professionals be allowed to set up office in their homes?

At this point, there’s no enthusiasm for it. While home-based businesses have long been supported here, there are restrictions, especially on those that would attract a lot of traffic and cause disruptions in the neighbourhood.

Unless it’s for something like tutoring or music instruction, clients aren’t supposed to come to the home. Proposed changes would allow customers to come for one-person personal services such as hairdressing or photo studios — something that’s already commonly done anyway.

“Customers would not be able to come to the home for professional practice businesses,” a staff report says. The reason — to avoid the bleeding of vitality from commercial office areas.

That makes some sense for now, but it could change. The pandemic is making us rethink all kinds of things. One of them is the way we do medicine.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.