@ginger1 thanks for your post! It sounds like you’re taking some great precautions. I do think that these times will push telehealth services forward legislatively further and faster than they would have otherwise. There’s a push to get Medicare to cover teletherapy services. (You can write to your Congress person [here]. Keep on, keeping on!
(https://www.votervoice.net/mobile/APTQI/Campaigns/72473/Respond?fbclid=IwAR2FKnHAUFFTXsNPRRLAGXjA4l4FzjdVdFQ31gs2FdOuKVJ9h-pSIIdIsT4)!)
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Telehealth resources would be very helpful! The site I work at just had all the office workers work from home and have asked me if I can work from home. As of now I am still going in, but my company is trying to figure out telehealth so that I can support those workers now at home and possibly work from home and then support everyone that way for the time being. We will see what happens in this quickly changing landscape! Luckily, I live in MN and we can provide occupational therapy via telehealth. I am getting a crash course in these laws now.
Good luck everyone!
@SarahLyon meditation is wonderful and if you want any help or pointers let me know! It is a big part of what is keeping me sane!
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@sheila1, I should have know you are meditator… and a Minnesotan no less 
I always say MN is my FAVORITE state to visit. (I’m a St. Olaf grad !)
I am working very hard right now on a tele-health legislative update to share in the Club. I figure wrapping our mind around this is step one and then step two is figuring out how to actually deliver the telehealth!
Ohh… and I have some telehealth documentation examples coming (hopefully soon!)
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Hi @preeti! It is so good to hear from someone in India! Our densely populated urban areas across the globe are on all of our minds. It sounds like you are doing the right things, and I am very glad to hear you are working to mobilize OTs— I think that along with our fellow healthcare professionals we have a critical role to play in the months ahead.
Hi all. Few comments and suggestions
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I have family in medical field and to clear things up, younger folks get plenty sick and need ventilators just like the older and sick, they just recover better and don’t die:( So if you think because you are 22-55 you are ok, please be aware the 32-38 year old medical professionals have been admitted to the ICU here in NJ/NY and they have no underlying issues. We need to isolate to slow Covid the heck down so that a ventilator is there when we need it. Italy ran out and told grandmas and grandpas- sorry we need to send you home even though you have lung failure and are not going to make it, we also have a mom of three young kids. Horrible disgusting choices and we are on the same track, so ISOLATE, don’t wait!
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isolating and getting these , excuse my language, giant jerk face insurance companies to do what is right, NOW, is what is needed. Hippa requirements have been suspended according to US government so you can even use FaceTime with your patients. I have called and spoken to my state and congressional representatives. Called and called and called insurance and getting some traction. In NJ BCBS will make a determination by the end of the week. CALL YOUR LEADERSHIP- MAKE WAVES- MAKE THEM PAY ATTENTION
-Clocktree is working as a platform for us, google hangouts is great too and free if you have a g-suite and especially if you already signed a BAA with google.
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OT’s are flexible and adaptable- lets PROVE IT!!! Moving to Telehealth platforms is weird and requires a total adjustment. I think its like our families with autism. They were pregnant and had a gorgeous perfect baby. Then within 2 years their life goes all sideways. Do they give up? Nope they find help, find us, and keep hope and also make adjustments and adapt to their new life. And they THRIVE.
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Meg Procter is an amazing OT with a great webinar for how to thrive with Telehealth. Can’t recommend this enough.She recommends moving from a direct intervention model to a coaching/consulting model. Its awesome and she is awesome.
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Keep the pressure on AOTA, your state, and those insurance companies. We will do this.
And may the Covid you and your family get be mild and easy or no Covid at all. Peace, calm, and love.
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Hi Tricia, I definitely agree that this is a time for advocacy. I just put together a new thread just to help us stay abreast of opportunities to advocate for our profession:
https://club.otpotential.com/t/legislative-advocacy-telehealth-coverage/344/5
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Sarah, Thank you so much for these resources! I especially found the one for SNF’s elpful for me. I am grateful to work for a company who values our residents and us as employees. We get updates every day in meetings and through the app we use for our company (called Red-e app, it’s HIPPA protected, so that helps when talking about patient names). It all changes each and every day, so I’m thankful for resources that can give us facts and help us navigate this time.
I work in a SNF right now. So my building has taken precautions since this started and each day to protect our residents and us as a staff. Right now we have one door into and out of the building, everyone has to sign in and get their temperature taken before starting work duties, and we have no community activities and no eating in dining rooms at the moment. It has been very stressful for us and our residents, but I am doing my best to share my positive light and adapt to each new thing every day with grace and encouragement. Thankful for all of us who are still working in hospitals or SNF’s, or outpatient areas and those who are adapting to changes for telehealth and other online resources. We will get through this together.
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Thank you for the social story!
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Hey @lauren1! It was so good for me to read this last night, and to know there are facilities that are handling this well and making residents and employees feel valued.
It sounds like your facility is taking really clear action and prioritizing clear communication. I know we all feel in flux right now, but I hope we can learn from you and help make our patients and colleagues feel extra valued at this time.
(On a related note, your post is making me think I need to be sharing inspirational stories on my podcast… I’m going to be brainstorming on this today!)
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Awesome! Thanks so much. I think things will move along more quickly, too–now that the need is more apparent.
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Hello please see the resource from WFOT https://www.wfot.org/about/public-statement-occupational-therapy-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic
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Thank you so much, @cynthia3! I had not seen this yet!!
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@andrea2
Yes, PA does not reimburse for Telehealth for Medicaid clients yet which is most of our outpatient caseload as well. I have signed this petition to help move along the process. Looks like the signatures are close too! I know there are a lot of these petitions floating around Facebook that are state specific as well.
I also realize this does not solve the problem of computer access to families and/or not having a web-cam available. I’m curious if there are any companies that have found a way to do a loaner program maybe with a local library or even community members (ensuring this is cleaned and delivered without being in 6ft of one another)? I know some administrative people are going into places like the library but with the new mandate in PA to close all non-life sustaining businesses I’m not sure they will stay open.
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Thank you, @katie! I am going to work on sharing the petition widely today. Will you please keep me posted on any changes you hear of to telehealth coverage in PA? Here’s what I have so far:
https://club.otpotential.com/t/legislative-advocacy-telehealth-coverage/344/2
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I am in Colorado and found out yesterday that Medicaid will lift restrictions for Telemedicine. The parents are on board with this since in-home visits have been cancelled by the parents and therapists. Telemedicine will be rolled out in 1-2 weeks.
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I work in home health PRN and was getting ready to take a lymphedema therapy contract job for 3 months. However, the coronavirus has really taken a toll on EVERYTHING- I now don’t have childcare and my other is out of school-- they are only 1 and 4 yrs old so there is no self entertaining over here. My husband is also OCD and terrified of me bringing something home… in which one of us could get sick and have to isolate from our children. I wouldn’t be so worried if we had enough PPE going around but that is just not the case! Im really hoping we can rebound from all of this. If I didn’t have family and elderly parents Id keep pushing through… but for now Im going to have to go on hiatus. This is the biggest internal battle as a health care professional. There is a major push pull going on with my heart strings for my patients vs my family 
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Acute care OT here! If you haven’t read about “pre-traumatic stress disorder” please see the link below. This is exactly what is happening to hospital based workers right now.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/03/18/doctors-nurses-are-already-feeling-psychic-shock-treating-coronavirus/
A look into the front lines at our hospital:
The stress about what is to come and how to best prepare is palpable. Our hospital has limited each patient to one visitor for the entirety of their hospitalization (i.e. no switching mom for son then for wife). It has made the hospital more quiet and eased the chaos but now it is eerily quiet. We have designated rooms for suspected covid patients but they are a part of our medical floor and medical ICU so there is a high risk for spreading the virus. We are rationing PPE in anticipation of what’s to come. Covid tests are given based on an algorithm. Unfortunately, one of the questions that seems to exclude you from being tested and from being on higher precautions is “do you have any known covid contacts or recent travel”. If you answer “no” you are deemed covid free even though we know community acquired covid is a thing! This seems to be a way to ration tests but that puts staff and other patients at very high risk for exposure. Hopefully this will change once more tests are released. For now, our manager is advocating for us to stay out of covid rooms until it is time for discharge or absolutely necessary. I see this changing in the near future once we get an influx of covid patients.
That brings me to my question: what is the role of acute care OT with covid patients?
I, unfortunately, have become symptomatic of covid-19 and am currently home in quarantine pending my test results. I can say that for myself, the shortness of breath and fatigue are brutal. One other symptom that I have that I haven’t seen discussed is tachycardia. For instance, going to the bathroom 20 feet away from my bed I desaturated to 88%. Going from the couch up 16 stairs to my bed my heart rate increased from 88 to 152. I have been using energy and oxygen conservation strategies, pacing, and pursed lip breathing. I am trying my best to be upright and as active as tolerable for pulmonary hygiene. Based on my anecdotal experience I see our role being:
-early mobility and engagement
-positional changes and graded activity for pulmonary hygiene and increased pulmonary and cardiac activity tolerance
-energy and oxygen conservation and pacing education
-ADL retraining
What else do you guys think will be important for covid patients? What are Acute OTs in Italy and China doing?
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I am a pediatric OT for the Washington Elks Therapy Program for Children, Inc. We usually offer home visits, but under the current situation are only offering Telehealth. I have compiled a list of useful resources to share with parents in the current situation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PUsE9MqCjDD5FZDLxeLjtEVQra--fG-McWzIRdzqMRI/edit?usp=sharing
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Hi @noam! This is an amazing resource! I have it sitting open in my tabs to reference for my own family
Are you planning on making the list into a public facing blog post? I think that could be super helpful!