Dr. David Chess, CEO and founder of TapestryHealth, used the current Covid-19 pandemic to illustrate the importance of preparedness. “How are you going to provide timely care for vulnerable residents when the last person you want to see in your facility is an overwhelmed, local PCP?” says Dr. Chess. “Physicians can be significant vectors for Covid-19, and other infectious diseases. And the more facilities they visit, the worse it gets”. The same can be said for nurses and nursing assistants who, in many states, are temporarily enjoined from working in multiple facilities for just that reason.
The answer, according to Chess, is to prepare ahead of time and he notes that it is not to late to prepare for a second wave of Covid-19 infections in the fall. “You may not have a ventilator unit in your facility, or a supply of PPE that would be considered unreasonably large by normal standards, or space available to separate residents and establish quarantine area. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be prepared to meet a situation like the current pandemic head-on.” According to Dr. Chess, the facilities that partner with TapestryHealth were among the best prepared facilities in the country to limit the spread of Covid-19 because of Tapestry’s rapid response 24/7 capabilities, their infectious disease capabilities, and their in-depth knowledge of each resident’s medical history and current condition. Most Tapestry clinicians see their patients remotely. There is never a need for them to enter the facility, thereby avoiding the risk of infection and of inadvertently spreading the virus from one facility to another.
Since the Covid-19 outbreak, Tapestry has been offering its remote platform to the local PCPs that see patients in TapestryHealth facilities. “We work in close partnership with the facility, their staff, and the local doctors who in many cases are seeing 25% or more of the patients in a TapestryHealth facility” said Dr. Chess. “In many cases, a local PCP will ask our clinician to see one of their patents when they are unable to get to the facility, and we are happy to do so. It’s in everyone’s best interest for us to work as a team to keep everyone, patient and provider alike, as safe as possible. Recently we’ve invited any doctor who sees patients in a Tapestry facility to use our remote platform and the Tapestry treatment cart as well. Using our integrated diagnostic tools and hi-definition cameras, local PCPs can see their patients without having to enter the facility. They’re seeing more patients, more safely and nearly 100 doctors have already taken us up on the offer. We’re getting more calls every day.” Tapestry clinicians routinely evaluate the facility staff as well. “We treat the facility as a community. If one of use gets sick, we’re all at risk." Doctors who want to learn more about sharing Tapestry’s technology can visit their website.
TapestryHealth is a nationwide primary care physician practice that sees patients in skilled nursing facilities using advanced remote technology. Their practice includes MDs, PAs, NPs and a core group of specialists representing the specialty areas most often needed in nursing homes including an infectious disease specialist.