COVID-19 Update and Teletherapy
In these extremely challenging times, I would like to share our heartfelt support and solidarity with you and your families. At Pediatric Therapy Network, the health and safety of our employees, the patients, families and the community in which we operate is our number one priority.
We are following the advice of all government and public health authorities, and proactively implementing a range of precautionary measures, from stringent sanitation and cleaning protocols, new workplace therapy procedures, screenings and temperature checks.
So here are the facts, COVID-19 is having more severe and sudden financial impact on our economy than any other economic impact we have experienced. The principal challenge we and the families we serve face is obvious. The government is taking steps to contain COVID-19, the restrictions on travel the gatherings of people and required social distancing is having an immediate impact on the economy. As a result, many businesses cannot continue to operate without sustainable economic losses and risking their ability to reopen once this gets behind us. This has caused many local businesses to close or start the process of closing and this has affected some of families we serve. As a leader I have experienced many wonderful highs and challenging lows. I can tell you I have never had a more difficult moment than this one. There is simply nothing worse than seeing the stress and fears on the faces of highly valued employees, who are the very heart of the company. Their roles are being impacted by events totally outside of their control. I have never been more determined to see us through than I am at this moment. Because of this, we have put into place business contingency plans to remain open. Our employees and patients are our top priority during this crisis. We have worked to keep controllable cost out of the business. The owners of the company will not be taking any salary and our employees will work on reduced schedules during the crisis so we can continue to provide services to as many patients as possible.
We will continue to have our clinic open and following the precautionary measures to perform face-to-face visits. Over the past few weeks, we have been developing and implementing teletherapy options for our patients. We cannot thank the Beta group of patients enough that has helped us out during this time of development so we can offer this to any patient within the scope of practice. In these uneasy times it is amazing to be able to offer teletherapy to our patients. Giving them something to look forward to, social interaction, therapies to help with their daily lives and home programs are such a gift. With that said, we understand that not all payers at this time will cover teletherapy. While many are finalizing policies for teletherapy to be covered during the COVID-19 we feel that not being able to offer teletherapy to a patient just because their policy will not reimburse the service is not fair. At this time, we will open teletherapy to any patient, if it is ethically warranted, and is in the discipline’s scope of practice. We will continue to collect copays, just like we would if you came to the clinic, but in the event your insurance denies the service for teletherapy, those charges will not be passed on the client. In addition, Pediatric Therapy Network will be designing therapy bags for patients that will be receiving teletherapy. We will be contacting the patients we have deemed appropriate for teletherapy and the therapist will design a therapy bag based on their current goals and provide instructions on the delivery of the therapy bags. I want to encourage you to follow us on social media for all updates and information on teletherapy.
Next, I want every family to know during this COVID-19 crisis, if you cannot afford therapy due the economic impact of this crisis, I urge you to call the office and talk with billing. We have many options in place currently to allow you to continue with care. I will remind everyone of our slogan “Leading the way in helping children” and we stand by this fully during this crisis.
As I close, I encourage you to take care of yourself, your friends and family and the community around you. I wish you good health and a sense of optimism. Together we can and we will overcome this and the walls of the clinic will be filled joy, laugher and smiles once again. Thank you and be well.
