What stage 1 does mean? Can we open on stage 1? We would be able to open safely because of the way we are positioned as healthcare professionals and all the clinics are ready for the staff and the patients but we are not allowed to be open in Ontario. Any therapeutic neurotoxin is ok but anything aesthetic is not legal on this stage. BC is already in phase 2 so the clinics can start to work there. It seems that Alberta is still on phase 1 and according to website of government it seems that aesthetic medicine is in phase 2.
We will discuss about what we are going to do to be ready for reopening.
First, you should prescreen your clients a few days before their appointment by sending a questionnaire based on the WHO questionnaire asking questions like have you traveled? Have you had the COVID-19 symptoms? Generally speaking, everybody are at risk for COVID-19 so you should also check the body temperature and O2 saturation. Fever (37.8 C or higher), new or worsening cough, shortness of breath, and sore throat are the most common COVID-19 symptoms.
You are not able to have all of your staff in your office, you have to step far from each other (2-meter rule), you should have a mask for all people in your waiting room, clean everything every 15 minutes, change everything for each patient. Mask, face shield, goggles, and gown are some types of PPE (personal protective equipment) that you should prepare for staff and clients. We suggest to change them for every patient.
You can start a lot of online and virtual activities like online consolation, sending skin products online, and also online follow up and problem-solving. This is something that you have to get on board with and use this opportunity to do things online. You can never replace in-person treatments but this is an important tool and can help you and your patients a lot.
Having a booking interval, a rotating schedule, assigning a room to a treatment provider, and not allowing family or friends in the practice can be used to minimize the number of staff and patients. The idea is to keep the minimum number of people in the practice so you can have only one or two people in the waiting room, the others can wait in their cars and you can communicate with them by text.
There some changes that you should make in your practice. You should remove non-washable items, have some signage about the protocols or hygiene, and floor marking for social distancing. You should also provide hand sanitizer and PPE (personal protective equipment) for all staff and clients.
With all of the expenses and interval and one hour time for each patient you won’t be able to do two procedures at the same time, what should we do with the prices? Some experts believe that a 10 to 20 percent increase is needed.
