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How Are You Doing? :

July 27, 2020

So how are you doing today? I anticipate that I’ll be doing well, although how I am really doing is a guess since I am writing this blog on a Sunday morning in April while snow falls outside my house. Two inches of snow have accumulated so far—a sight that drives home the craziness of this year.

So how are you doing today? I anticipate that I’ll be doing well, although how I am really doing is a guess since I am writing this blog on a Sunday morning in April while snow falls outside my house. Two inches of snow have accumulated so far—a sight that drives home the craziness of this year.

Pediatrics in Review’sblogs are written months before appearing online and are meant to connect with the content in a future month's issue.  On this particular day of April, the entire world is focused on COVID-19. Medical journals, network news, and social media discuss social (physical) distancing, testing, vaccines, treatment; “The cure is the worse than the disease,” “rolling reentry,” and second wave are common phrases used. Celebrations of heroism are peppered with commentaries on loss, hunger, and depression. What will our communal spirits be in July? Will summer bring revitalization?

This July, PIR has an In Brief article on telemedicine (10.1542/pir.2019-0171). This is your chance to see if what was authored months ago holds up to what is currently in practice by clinicians throughout the country, if not the world, due to the COVID-19 pandemic effect on our social and work environment. Doctors Chandler and Beavers discuss telemedicine’s benefits of better access and fewer costs while mentioning barriers of infrastructure and reimbursement and fears of increased medical errors and malpractice. A colleague recently told me that at his institution 0.8% of clinic visits were virtual last year with the goal of reaching 20% telemedicine visits  by 2022.  Now with the COVID-19 pandemic, his institution is up to 71% virtual clinic visits. By the time you read this, this trend is most likely present everywhere. Will the predicted benefits of telemedicine be obvious? Will the fears of telemedicine be unfounded? Will primary care fundamentally change?

I have always enjoyed reading science fiction, especially novels that employ time travel and dystopian, post-apocalyptic landscapes. As I look out the window and watch the falling snow, I recall an “ad” on the then Sci-Fi channel that displayed a snowy backdrop with the tag “Winter?… Nuclear Winter?”  Ironic that I remember this ad as I try to predict what we clinicians will face in July.  Similar to the outcome in most science fiction novels, I bet we will be adapting to a new world, accepting that what was is past and what will be is our choice. Better yet, I bet we will choose to be well.

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