Information on Covid-19

Answer:  At the present time there is a fine balancing act between reducing exposure and remaining current on vaccinations (including flu vaccines) and developmental assessments.  So until mandated by the authorities, we are not discouraging parents from keeping those appointments.  Instead, we have developed a rigid process to reduce the risks of exposure, including screening Covid-19 possible patients to another part of the clinic (different waiting room), actually not utilizing our waiting room as much (instead taking patients quickly to isolated exam rooms), and a number of other items..

Answer: In addition to keeping patients out of the waiting room as much as possible, we are encouraging parents to leave children who do not have appointments with us in the care of another trusted adult, and perhaps only bringing one parent with the child to the appointment.  By reducing traffic, we can better maintain “social distancing” to reduce the exposure risks.

Answer: In most instances we are be able to communicate via HIPAA-compliant TeleHealth.  This may not work for all medical care, but will reduce the need for visits in the clinic in most cases.  Furthermore, several of our providers can now refill controlled substance prescriptions electronically, reducing the need for our patients to come to the clinic to pick up the old hand-written prescriptions for certain medications.

Answer: Staying informed with accurate information is vital in this process.  You can read the latest recommendations and mandates from the State at their Epidemiology website:  http://dhss.alaska.gov/dph/Epi/id/Pages/COVID-19/default.aspx  

Answer: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a great “Frequently Asked Questions” page that answers a host of general questions about this virus.  See this page:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html