Hi Harmony Family!
In this email you will find two things. An update on antibody testing and our plans for re-opening the office to well visits and routine follow ups.
Antibody testing
We will be rolling out Covid-19 antibody testing (blood tests) through Quest labs very soon. The cost is $55 billed directly to you by Quest. Quest is not offering the same price to us, so billing through us is more. Although these tests are not perfect, they will give us some important information about community exposure and possible future risk. The presence of IgG antibodies indicates that you have been infected in the past with the virus and mounted an immune response against it. They are not useful for diagnosing acute infections (if you are sick now) but look for a past infection. Unfortunately there is not enough data yet to determine if there is protection against future infection
Office Changes
Starting next Monday we begin the process of seeing follow ups and well visits in the office. There will be several changes to comply with state and CDC guidance.
The changes include the following:
- We will have fewer appointment slots to allow for deep cleaning of the equipment and surfaces (rooms, bathrooms, counters, etc) after each visit.
- We will not utilize the waiting room during this time All literature, toys, magazines will be removed from the waiting room and the exam rooms.
- Our goal is to have no more than 1 patient in the office at a time. You will need to wait in your car until your appointment time.
- The front door may be locked and you will need to knock or call the office.
- We will have separate exam rooms dedicated to well visits and sick visits.
- Staff will be wearing masks and other PPE as appropriate.
- Patients will be required to wear cloth face covering. You are encouraged to wear your own mask but a clean mask will be provided if you do not have one.
- Staff will have daily temperature checks and will stay home if feeling unwell.
- We will continue to use curbside pickup of Rx, supplements or any other items.
- We will return to opening the office at 8 am but will continue to close at 4 pm to allow for end of day cleaning.
These changes are temporary although we don’t know how long we will need to keep each change.
Stay safe and well!
Let me know if you need me,
Dr. Neely
