CLINIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
policies and guidelines for community wellness
Living through a pandemic has provided rich learning opportunities for us all.
One of the gifts of the COVID era has been the stark reminder that we are all connected on a more literal level than many of us understood before. The human immune system is more like one vast organism than billions of separate entities. Our choices and our actions affect everyone and everything around us.
To the best of my ability, I am choosing to monitor and comply with CDC guidelines for healthcare settings.
There are several practices I've established that I hope to carry into the future. These are:
1. Mask-wearing
Living in China helped me appreciate the practice of mask-wearing long before COVID was a household term. It is common in Asian cultures to wear face masks not only to help limit exposure to air pollution, but to protect others from your acute respiratory illness. Wearing a mask is a responsible and considerate thing to do while going about your life while you are symptomatic.
Other reasons one might wear a mask are:
- Protecting oneself in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces
- Not being sure whether your respiratory symptoms are from allergies or a cold
- Allowing a cold sore to heal without exposing it to the elements
- Working near others with severely compromised immune systems
2. Offering telemedicine appointments
Since Chinese medicine is so much more than acupuncture, it is possible to establish or continue your care from a distance. Opting to do herbal consults remotely is a great way to save time while working toward your health goals. Depending on your circumstances and needs, you may be a candidate for continual telemedicine visits, or you may be better served by staggering remote consults with in-office treatments. Telemedicine appointments are for established patients only.
Updated Cancellation Policy
In an effort to encourage patients with cold- or flu-like symptoms to both self-isolate AND benefit from the power of Chinese medicine to treat acute illness, I have updated my cancellation policy to allow penalty-free late changes to in-office visits. If you are feeling under the weather, rather than cancel your appointment within the 48-hour late-cancellation window, you now have the option to switch your visit to a remote herbal consult instead.
3. Refraining from working while I'm sick
While this may seem obvious, I think it's important to state that I choose to commit to my own health and healing as much as I do to that of my patients. Sometimes this means clearing my calendar to allow the space I need to take care of myself. If possible, I will continue to offer telemedicine appointments to those patients currently taking a herbal protocol that requires an updated prescription.