On The Beat 06-22-20 - Digestive Health

Joining me today on On The Beat is Dr. Stone from digestive health specialists.

Troy thompson: welcome to on the beat everyone.

I'm troy thompson.

Joining me today is dr. stone from digestive health specialists.

How are you, my friend?

Dr. stone: i'm doing well.

Thank you, troy.

Troy thompson: very nice to see you.

Now, i do want to ask you, you are up and running, i assume?

Dr. stone: yes, sir.

I am.

Troy thompson: okay.

And how's that all working out for you after this covid-19 pandemic?

Dr. stone: well, it's been good.

Like much of the rest of the country, we restricted our services and rescheduled elective procedures for several weeks during the peaks of the pandemic.

During this time, we've been paying close attention to the mississippi state health department guidelines and their recommendations for safely reopening.

We've also been following our national gi society guidelines, communicating with other gi groups around the country, sharing strategies we can use to keep our patients safe.

On may 11th, actually, the mississippi state health department began to allow outpatient clinics to open and elective procedures to resume, and then over the last couple of weeks, we have now fully opened up all of our remaining services to patients.

Troy thompson: oh, wonderful.

Because that was my next question.

Are there any procedures that you're not seeing moving forward?

Dr. stone: well, there was a time definitely at the height of the pandemic that we were rescheduling those high-risk patient populations, such as people with advanced age or preexisting health conditions.

Now, however, as the number of cases of coronavirus in mississippi have stabilized and even declined, we've opened up services at all of our locations to all patients but with important safety protocols in place.

Troy thompson: well, dr. stone, i want to put everyone's mind at ease if you wouldn't mind, since you are up and running.

What safety practices have you put into place, especially if people are coming in for elective surgeries?

Dr. stone: sure, so our goal at digestive health specialists is to provide a safe environment for patients and our staff, and we have developed protocols to help us meet that goal.

For example, all patient care areas are cleaned after every patient encounter, and the waiting rooms are cleaned multiple times per day.

When you come here, masks are required at all times for both patients and staff, and then prior to entering the building, all patients, visitors, employees, and providers have their temperature checked, and we also have screening questions to allow or to rule out those individuals who are at increased risk of having covid-19.

Troy thompson: i think that's super important because here's the thing.

I'm sure you have heard this from your patients now, that people are still feeling a little nervous to go out in public and do things.

But i have to say, i've just started going out with those protective things that we're supposed to wear, the mask, the gloves, the antiseptic cream, and i feel a lot safer because when i go into these hospitals and surgery clinics and things like that, i see such care taken when it comes to patient safety.

Dr. stone: right.

You know, troy, i recognize that in this time of increased anxiety, there's fear out there that's affecting not only people who are ill with the coronavirus, but those in need of other types of medical care.

I personally have had cancer patients that are delaying treatment, and i've heard of transplant patients declining organs because they're worried about exposure to covid-19.

I want people to remember that colon cancer screening saves lives.

We've been open now for the last couple of weeks.

On the first day i resumed screening colonoscopies a couple of weeks ago, the first case i had was a 57-year- old that was there for routine screening, and i diagnosed early colon cancer.

Now, that patient has a very good chance at being cured because we found it early.

But it worries me to think that there are people out there delaying the care that they need due just to anxiety and fear.

Troy thompson: and i think that's super important that you just said what you said.

This is the new way life is going to be, and if anything, it's taught us to be a lot cleaner, as well, and sterilize a lot better.

Right?

Dr. stone: right.

That's correct.

Yeah.

And it's important to be clean.

It's important to practice those safety measures that have been recognized to help decrease the spread of this disease, so very important going forward.

Troy thompson: well, again, we truly appreciate you coming in and giving us your time.

Dr. stone: yes.

Thank you so much, troy.

Thank you for having me.

Troy thompson: if you want to find out more information, there it all is up on the screen for you.

Digestive health specialists.

They will take care of many of your needs, and as you can see, their website's there, as well.

Go online and look at all their other services that they offer.

We'll be back after this short