Dear Valued Patients & Staff of McKay Dermatology,
In light of recent events with COVID-19, McKay Dermatology has made changes in the way that we do business and take care of our valued patients. Our top priority is to stop the spread of coronavirus, keep our patients safe, yet remain available. Changes have been made to do our part to “flatten the curve” of coronavirus transmission. Slowing the rate of spread of the virus via social distancing will reduce the strain on hospital systems that don’t have the capacity to handle a huge spike in the number of patients requiring hospitalization.
The main focus will be to change regular appointments to Telemedicine appointments whenever possible. Our staff is busy calling patients currently on the schedule from 4/1 – 4/30. Additionally, we will open up extra telemedicine appointments for those who have concerns but do not have a previously scheduled appointment. To schedule a telemedicine appointment, please call (772) 283-0109.
The telemedicine appointments are done online from home using a smartphone or a computer that has a camera. Good Wifi is also a must. Most insurance carriers are currently reimbursing Telemedicine appointments for you the way they would for regular appointments. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is also possible that your insurance carrier is waiving your copays. For more information, please see the Telemedicine page on our website www.mckayderm.com/telemedicine, and please call us if you need help - we will walk you through it.
Not all appointments can be converted to telemedicine appointments. There are several different unique appointment scenarios in play, each with their own solution (see below). What follows will apply for at least the next four weeks. At that time we will determine if it’s safe to go back to our usual routine.
Regular office visits: these will be automatically converted to telemedicine visits. While most lesions can be effectively screened using the camera, we understand that not all can be done this way. If during your Telemedicine visit your provider determines that you require a face-to-face appointment, for either diagnosis or treatment, one will be arranged for you with Dr. Elizabeth McKay who is currently in the office taking care of urgent patient needs. Please call or email to postpone / reschedule your appointment if you believe that these limitations will negate the value of your appointment.
Call: 772.283.0109
Email: info@mckayderm.com
Annual and Semi-Annual Skin Exams: while these appointments cannot be fully reproduced using Telemedicine, it is my experience that during most of these appointments patients have specific lesions of concern, questions regarding specific skin conditions, or the need for prescription refills.Therefore, we will take care of those concerns now with the Telemedicine visit, and reschedule your full skin check for as soon as it is safe to do so. If you are scheduled for an Annual or Semi-Annual skin exam but have no medical problems to discuss and no need for refills, please call us to postpone / reschedule your appointment.
New Patient Appointments: There’s a lot to be said about the importance of establishing a therapeutic relationship with an in-person appointment. After careful consideration, we feel that these factors are outweighed by the fact that our new patient appointment slots are necessarily limited and most new patients have already been waiting for weeks or months. We will therefore be changing new patient appointments to Telemedicine appointments, following the information above under “Annual and Semi-Annual Skin Exams.” If you have a new patient appointment scheduled, and it is only for a full skin exam with no areas of specific concern to discuss, please call us to postpone / reschedule (772) 283-0109.
Skin Cancer Treatment: While some skin cancers are considered low-risk and can wait for this pandemic to pass, others are higher risk and could become even higher risk when left untreated for several months. For this reason, Dr. McKay has been in the office taking care of any skin cancers that should not wait. We have made many changes to the way we see face-to-face patients in order to stop the spread of the virus. We are pre-screening patients upon arrival, outside, for any signs or symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath. If clear, patients are asked to wait in their car until their room is ready. We are sanitizing the office and treatment rooms according to CDC guidelines before and after each patient, along with all door handles, counters, and other frequently touched surfaces. We have also removed all seating in the waiting room, so there is nobody in there when you come in. Once your room is ready, you will be offered hand sanitizer and escorted directly to your treatment room. There are only 1 or 2 patients in the office at any given time. We are also asking patients to either come alone or to have their companion wait for them in their car. We currently have enough protective equipment and are attempting to treat the most urgent skin cancers first. Please be patient with us as we work out new appointment times for your procedure.
A message from Dr. Elizabeth McKay:
I imagine that this has been a challenging time for you, to say the least. I hope you have also seen it bring out the best in the people around you. I have certainly witnessed that in the team of people I am working with every day. They are filled with such love and light and are making those patients who need to venture out into the world (to come here to have something treated) feel very safe, reassured and cared for. It has brought tears to my eyes (though you may not have been able to see them behind all the masks and goggles)!
Please take as good care of yourself and your family as you are able. I look forward to seeing you again soon!
To your good health,
Elizabeth McKay, M.D.