QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, October 1, 2020 Page 10 24
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Senior Living Guide
Technology brought unexpected benefits by Michael Gannon Editor
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For the latest news visit•qchron.com SENIOR LIVING GUIDE Fall 2020
ewYork-Presbyterian Queens hospital first saw the benefits of telemedicine —the ability for doctors and patients to interact remotely — a few years ago; while the Queens Public Library system has steadily been reaching out to get the borough’s seniors engaged in health-related and other activities. But in the time of COVID-19, even good things can have unintended silver linings. “Telemedicine has been around for a long time,” Dr. Demetrios Paidoussis of NYPQ told the Chronicle in a recent telephone interview. “One benefit came to light insofar as senior patients are at a higher risk for COVID-19. Our medical group had been using it for about four years prior to COVID, so we were very well-prepared to see more patients remotely. We were in an excellent position.” He said more and more patients are comfortable with technology. The hospital had wel l ove r 18,0 0 0 telemedical engagem e n t s , i n clu d i n g with plent y of s e n io r s , b e t we e n March 1 and July 5. The appoint ments can take place on a properly outf it ted home computer or a phone. The hospital said the process is much like a Sk y pe or Dr. Demetrios FaceTime visit, but Paidoussis with a secure connection to protect a patient’s information and privacy. Patients who are interested must set up an account after downloading the NYP mobile app, available through the Apple App Store or Google Play. “Many of our older patients have smartphones, so there’s no need for a desktop,” he said. “Some might need their grandchildren or a neighbor to help them set up, or we can talk them through the process
When COVID-19 made telemedicine for many the preferred choice for doctor visits, physicians at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens hospital in Flushing were ready to go — and had been for nearly PHOTOS COURTESY NEWYORK-PRESBYTERIAN QUEENS four years. from our office.” The nursing staffs, technicians and others were ready as well. Even area pharmacies were brought on board whenever possible since the start of the pandemic. “Some people are more comfortable,” Paidoussis said. “They can have family members present. They can have access to their medicine and don’t have some of the aggravations of an office visit ... and I can attest that many people were afraid to go to the hospital with everything that has been going on. People should not be afraid to seek care, as we saw during the pandemic.” Paidoussis said there are, naturally, things that must be treated in office visits or even at hospitals. Some things a doctor or nurse can spot just by looking at the patient. Other methods evolved over time. They can assess a person’s breathing and other visible, physical signs of their health and well-being. The hospital said doctors would meet with COVID patients or others with COVID symptoms on a daily basis until they recovered. Nurses would at times evaluate the same patient two or three times per day when necessary. “Patients should always be aware of their
Medical services at home continued from page 4 options for homebound patients. Dr. Linda DeCherrie, clinical director of Mount Sinai at Home, a service that includes the Visiting Doctors program and the Hospitalization at Home program, indicated that patients in the former can receive “much of what they would in a primary care office,” including physical examinations, blood testing, taking of X-rays and physical therapy. “We’re interdisciplinary,” she said, with social workers and home health aides available to assist with the care, as well as visiting nurses.
The program has proven so popular that, according to the doctor, there is a six- to eight-month waiting list. And while it is currently available only in Manhattan, discussions are underway to explore expansion to the other boroughs in the future. “It doesn’t help in a crisis,” she admitted. But once a patient is enrolled, medical assistance is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, she said. She also noted that a patient would pay the same for the home service as they would in a doctor’s office. For further information on the Visiting
bodies,” Paidoussis said. “If we see something that concerns us, we’ll recommend they come into the office. We will never allow patients to wait for that.” Paidoussis also said there has been an ironic twist since the COVID-19 outbreak. “We can see each other’s faces in telemedicine,” he said. “In the office, everyone would be wearing masks — so in a way the remote visit is more personal.” Madlyn Schneider, coordinator of the Queens Public Library’s Older Adult and Mail-A-Book prog ra ms, a nd Ta ma ra Michel, the library’s community health coordinator, are aware of the hospital’s embrace of technology to benefit patients. “We work with a lot of hospitals on our programs,” Schneider said. “NewYork-Presbyterian has had a doctor on a teleconference with a group once a month.” Schneider said like the hospital, the Queens Public Library system already had online programs for seniors and others in place before COVID-19 struck. “What happened was our programs just expanded,” Schneider told the Chronicle. “We have community health programs almost every day,” Michel said, including chair yoga, Zumba classes and others. Doctors program, call (212) 241-4141. Most patients enrolled in Mount Sinai’s Hospitalization at Home program begin treatment in an actual hospital emergency department. If they meet certain medical and social criteria, they qualify for the athome program, which would then provide them with additional hospital-level care. This program is available in four of the five boroughs, including Queens. The hospital’s visiting doctors work in conjunction with its community paramedics. Dr. Kevin Munjal, the medical director of the Community Paramedicine program, said, “It’s an emerging field,” which he indicated “saw a 500 percent increase during the [coronavirus] surge in the spring.”
Schneider said they have classes for painting, drawing and more. They have programs teaming with the Queens-based Noguchi Museum and Museum of the Moving Image, and even Manhattan institutions such as the Whitney and the Intrepid. Michel said there is a tangible effect for seniors who may have been restricted to their homes for months out of COVID concerns, people for whom the library’s free programs have been offering socialization and a relief from isolation. She said some newcomers will watch the video portion but take some time before turning on their microphones. Others will begin opening up by typing a few comments before eventually engaging more fully. “I appreciate the feedback,” Michel said. “ It help s me c r e at e mor e a c cu r at e programming.” Schneider has worked for the library system for more than 30 years, and has been the older dult coordinator for the last decade. She said that, like the hospital, they already were in a good position before COVID-19 ever happened. She said she had long focused on programs to help seniors combat loneliness and isolation based on experiences with her own mother. The Mail-A-Book program, which sends books, music and movies to those unable to leave their homes because of illness, age or other reasons, is an example. She and Michel — “Our programs overlap a lot” — already had programs available, and, just as important, the library system already had the technology in place to deliver them. All people needed to have was a phone. “That was before the libraries closed,” she said. “We had been creative in engaging older adults ... I didn’t have to do much pivoting.” Schneider said between March and September the library has offered more than 9,000 individual online programs. “And 7,898 seniors have attended those programs,” she said. Information on available programs is Q available online at queensibrary.org. Through the program, paramedics visit patients at home, where a patient’s vital signs and other relevant information are collected, and make a clinical assessment. “We provide a lot of what a hospital provides,” the doctor said, adding that the program is “a great service and can help with minor conditions and guidance for major conditions.” Each visit includes a telehealth visit, which, the doctor said, is covered by most types of insurance. The EMS treatment is not currently covered, he added. At least for now, the service is not directly available to patients but must be requested through a member of the patient’s care team, Q the doctor said.
