The past week has been a very challenging one due to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus. While many media outlets and TV networks continue to provide updates and breaking news tied to the deadly outbreak, it’s clear that patients want more knowledge, education, and digital support from their healthcare providers. As a result, we're encouraging all of our active users in the medical field to record and distribute a few videos to their patients to provide some helpful information. Additionally, because we’re a patient-centric business first and foremost, we’ve decided to offer our video and text messaging communication platform for FREE for ten days for anybody that doesn't have a digitalcare100 account. You can get started here: https://portal.digitalcare100.com/sign-up
When you sign in to your digitalcare100 account you'll see a new topic tile, "Coronavirus". Here you'll find scripts with information on the Coronavirus, ranging from best practices to reduce the chance of infection, FAQs on impacts to daily life and other helpful recommendations. We will be working to keep this category updated as we learn more about the virus and its spread and impacts on daily life.
One topic that we're recommending includes basic health tips recommended by the CDC to slow the spread of the virus. Here is an example of from Dr. Patrick Donnelly, with the script he used shared below.
Script: Hello. This is Dr. [NAME] with [PRACTICE]. CORONA VIRUS - it's the health topic of the month, and you'll certainly be hearing more about it this year! Before you have a meltdown and give in to the hysteria, I want to remind you to relax and remain calm: with the correct practices, you can reduce your chance of infection. Here are a few tips:
1. Wash your hands! I hope that you're already doing this, but pay extra attention to washing your hands with soap & water for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
2. Maintain social distancing - if you see somebody sneezing or coughing, maintain a distance of at least 3 feet.
3. Avoid touching your face to reduce the chance of any viruses entering your body.
4. Stay home if you're sick! And if you have symptoms of fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call in advance.
5. Take care of your body! Drink plenty of fluids, maintain your exercise routine, maintain a healthy sleep schedule. Lastly, come in for a chiropractic adjustment. As you know, getting adjusted will boost your immune system. Please let me know if you have any questions and I'll see you soon.
Here's another great example from Dr. Brett Dworkis with Performance Chiropractic in Olathe, KS. Notice that his video includes many of the same points as Dr. Donnelly's video, but he added more information from another library script as well as some additional information from his own practice.
At this point, we don't know to what degree this pandemic will affect day-to-day life or patient attendance. The best thing that you can do as we monitor this situation is to make yourself available, reassure your patients, provide accurate and helpful information, and answer questions as they come.