COVID-19 OFFICE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

We are proud to announce that we have been one of the first practices in New York City to institute COVID-19 medical office safety protocols that are now widely adopted, well before New York on Pause. Please know that we have been taking truly extraordinary measures since the pandemic to prepare the office with even more safety equipment, systems, and protocols to ensure the safest environment for our patients and our staff.

Some of these changes include:

• We prescreen all patients by phone for COVID-19 symptoms when making their appointment and on the day of their appointment.
• We have implemented contactless registration and e-signatures whenever possible as well as digitizing our consent forms to minimize the touching and sharing of pens, paper, and ipads. We ask that patients sign-up for our patient portal in order to achieve this end.
• We perform contactless temperature screening for all staff and patients who enter the office.
• We are scheduling fewer patients than typical to limit the number of people in our facilities and to allow for ample time for cleaning and disinfecting between patients.
• We require all patients to bring and wear a non-valved face mask at all times.
• We provide Purell hand sanitizer for all patients to use when entering the office.
• We request that you come unaccompanied to appointments unless medically necessary. Any visitors will also be prescreened.
• We ask all patients to maintain 6 feet social distancing from all other individuals.
• We are providing staff members with appropriate PPE.
• We are requiring COVID-19 testing for patients 72 hours prior to undergoing surgery or other invasive procedures.
• We test all staff for COVID-19 prior to returning to work. Any symptomatic staff members will also be required to stay home.
• We are minimizing patient wait time in the common areas and bringing patients to exam rooms as soon as possible.
• We have installed Plexiglass barriers at the reception area.
• While we have always practiced frequent and careful disinfection of the office, we have now further expanded our disinfection practices with COVID-19 in mind.
• We have installed powerful new air filtration and decontamination systems which utilizes non-chemical ultra-low energy plasma technology which is powerful enough to destroy pathogens on contact yet gentle enough for continued use around vulnerable populations. These units are designed for air disinfection in situations where infection risk is elevated, and has been shown to reduce COVID-19 surrogate MS2 bacteriopage by 99.9%. This particular air filtration technology is now found in numerous intensive care units and emergency rooms across the country (and internationally) dealing with COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
• In addition to individual air filtration/decontamination units, we have upgraded to HEPA air filters for our A/C system.
• We have purchased additional high-caliber vacuum systems to aid in eliminating 98% of aerosols generated through surgical and cosmetic procedures.
• Our cleaning supplies and disinfectants are hospital-grade and are registered on the EPA list (List N) for use against SARS-CoV-2.
• We continue to offer telemedicine appointments when appropriate.

Change is always challenging, but we are committed to ensuring everybody’s health and safety. We thank you for your patience and cooperation as we navigate this new normal together. When you call our office, our front desk staff will review our new office protocols and procedures prior to your appointment.

We look forward to seeing you soon!