Many doctors across the United States have closed their offices amid stay-at-home orders to protect patients and staff from infection and have turned to telemedicine to offer treatment. A physician in New York City explains that telemedicine is useful for patients to stay in contact with their doctor and to reassure people who are concerned they may have the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
“Most of the work we do on telemedicine is reassure people that they are okay, that they will be ok. Also, because of the confinement, it’s very important that we are all in touch with family, friends, colleagues, and your doctor,” Dr. Albert Levy told NTD.
Levy says most people who get the virus—and are not in high-risk groups, such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions—will be okay, with only about 20 percent of victims needing to go to the hospital.
Levy does about a dozen video-conferences every day with his patients and most of them are concerned they have the virus, and some without good reason.
“Ninety-nine percent—the majority of patients, if they have something like a problem in their small index finger, they think it’s corona,” he said.
The CCP virus is taking a toll on him as he has had to lay off some employees and needs to de-stress from absorbing many of his patients’ problems on a daily basis.
“People think that we as doctors or police or nurse or whatever, that we are superhumans,” said Levy. “We’re not. We have the same feelings as everyone, we suffer the same way. We’re isolated the same way. I can’t go out the same way. When I go out I have to put [on] the mask—it’s difficult.”
Levy said it’s difficult to handle the volume of issues his patients talk about every day and that it adds up. He is constantly trying to make others feel good and be reassured, and he said he would like some reassurance, too.
Furthermore, the pandemic has caused him to feel rejected when he was turned down as a volunteer to help in hospitals because of his age. At the end of March, the state of New York reached out to medical professionals to help staff hospitals during the pandemic.
“They said, ‘No, no, you will be a liability.’ I understand, but I felt rejected,” he said. “I’m a high risk to go to hospitals. So I cannot help that way, I just can help with telemedicine.”
His office remains open virtually, with his receptionist taking calls during business hours and with Levy and his nurse practitioner available for emergency calls as well. As soon as the crisis is over, Levy plans to re-hire his employees that he had to lay off.
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