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Virtual Medicine Soars as Pandemic Rages On

Healthcare systems and governments in the United States and much of world have had to take unprecedented emergency measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare providers have replaced office visits with telemedicine encounters and social distancing has become a key component to prevent person-to-person transmission.

While discussing telemedicine visits with Renal & Urology News, Deepak A. Kapoor, MD said “Certainly, we can anticipate that for some patients there will be a great appetite to continue the [telemedicine] services,” Dr. Kapoor said. “Whether we can and will do so depends largely on behavioral changes in the patient population and guidance from regulatory bodies.” To read the entire interview, click on this link.

Urologists Join COVID-19 Pandemic Fight

Epidemiologists and disaster preparedness officials who have contemplated what could spark a public health crisis that overwhelms the nation’s healthcare system and causes widespread social disruption and economic upheaval now have at least one answer: a coronavirus that spreads easily and quickly and can cause severe respiratory distress and death.

Urologists usually are not called upon to contain infectious disease epidemics, but the unprecedented events unfolding since January have prompted them to do their part to contain the spread of the virus.

“For us, it is really about making sure that we’re able to safely keep our doors open and develop strategies to manage the surge [in COVID-19 patients] because the hospitals here are just simply overwhelmed,” Deepak A. Kapoor, MD, chairman and CEO of Integrated Medical Professionals, told Renal & Urology News.

Dr. Kapoor said he has had conversations with administrators at different health systems regarding what his urology group can do to ease the burden on hospitals, such as sharing equipment, staff, and facility space. The mindset is to do “pretty much anything to help. It’s really all hands on deck here.” To read more about the ways that IMP and other urology practices are managing practices and assisting the hospitals, read the story by using this link.