Meriden-based Connecticut Orthopaedic Institute at MidState Medical Center is "aggressively" using telemedicine during the COVID-19 crisis, orthopedic surgeon Jeffrey Pravda, MD, told local news outlet WTNH.
Four insights:
1. Dr. Pravda's practice is using telemedicine to monitor patients' care and field questions about medication management. Most medication renewals can be done fairly easily with telemedicine, he said.
2. Surgeons are still treating urgent and emergency conditions. True orthopedic emergencies include open injuries, large lacerations, bad fractures and dislocations, according to Dr. Pravda.
3. For simple extremity injuries, most orthopedic offices are taking walk-in patients but reducing their hours of operation, Dr. Pravda said. Injuries such as dislocations would most likely require an emergency room visit.
4. Urgent conditions that need to be addressed soon are primarily being treated in surgery centers, Dr. Pravda said. Providers are also trying to use regional anesthetic in these cases.
"The requirements of the surgery center are very similar to the hospital," Dr. Pravda said. "We're doing the urgencies or emergencies — things that can't wait until the crisis is resolved."