To Our Patients,
Your well-being is our highest priority. We have been monitoring the COVID-19 developments closely and are taking measures to protect you and our staff.
1. Expanded Virtual Visits
Our providers, Douglas Frankel, MD and Alice Dur, Doctorate Nurse Practitioner, are greatly expanding their weekday virtual visit availability as well as limited weekend and evening options.
Many office visits qualify for a virtual visit from the convenience of your phone, tablet, or computer. The specific appointment types allowed are listed on our website and when booking online.
Please note that all virtual visits are ultimately subject to provider approval.
Please call our office at (301) 217-9222 or send a portal message to schedule a virtual visit. Easy online scheduling for virtual visits starts on our website on March 26.
2. In-Office Precautions:
- We will not be using our waiting room. All patients will go straight to their exam room and complete check ins, visits, and checkouts in the room.
- All physicals, well checks and non-sick visit appointments are directed to come in and go directly to your exam room.
- COVID-19 appointments are virtual visits. Please do not come to the office and contact us.
- Non-COVID sick visits are directed to stay in their car, notify us that they have arrived, and wait for a call to proceed to dedicated, separate exam rooms in the back of the facility. You will go to the right of the front entrance to enter through the back deck door overlooking the golf course. We ask all sick visits to wear a mask if you own one.
- We are disinfecting all of the exam rooms, common areas, including door handles, chairs, bathrooms, sink handles, pens, and the entire reception desk throughout the entire day.
- Our staff is wearing gloves for all appointment types.
- We are minimizing the need to give papers, take credit cards manually, and other physical materials, and instead relying on electronic options.
3. COVID-19 Screening
If you answered yes to any of the following questions, please self-quarantine, do not come into the office and contact us to see if you should have a virtual visit.
- Traveled to a country with COVID-19 (map found here) in the last 14 days and have ill symptoms.
- Close contact (within 6 feet for more than 3 minutes or with infectious secretions without personal protective equipment) with someone confirmed or suspected of having COVID-19.
- Fever over 100.4 degrees and/or cough.
- Symptoms of lower respiratory illness (cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing).
Please keep in mind the following:
- Capital Medical Partners does NOT have the capability nor materials to test for COVID-19 in our office.
- There is no cure for COVID-19.
- If a patient has COVID-19, the management is to self-quarantine for 14 days and your primary care provider is the one to facilitate any testing. Please contact us rather than proceeding to our office, emergency room, or urgent care.
- Most of us are already preventatively isolating and practicing social distancing. If a patient does not need to be hospitalized, knowing they have COVID-19 only reinforces that you should self-quarantine for 14 days. Therefore, “just wanting to know” if you have COVID-19 may instead place you at increased risk of exposure and may not provide any other benefits
- One of the best preventative measures is good hand-washing and decreasing your exposure to others.
As always, if you have a life-threatening symptom, call 911 immediately.
Sincerely,
Douglas C. Frankel, MD
Alice Hur, Doctorate Nurse Practitioner
