As Omicron surges and hospital emergency rooms become crowded, Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health asks its COVID-19 patients who are not seriously ill to use the BSW Health App to receive virtual treatment if they need medical assistance.
“What you will find is many different ways to interact with us,” Dr. Ashis Barad with Baylor Scott & White Health told FOX 4 News in an interview.
“One is what we call an ‘E’ visit,” he said.
Barad added that while some patients who use the application might have a non-COVID issue and need no care, they could also get a “video visit” from doctors.
Barad revealed that patients who do not need to be in a hospital setting should remain at home where doctors can reach out to them “in a texting kind of fashion” to see how they are doing.
“And if things are starting to worsen in any way, then we can then step that up as that happens,” Dr. Barad added.
In an interview, Dr. Beth Kassanoff-Piper with the Dallas County Medical Society told FOX 4 News that just as there are not enough rooms for COVID-19 patients, hospitals also do not have rooms for patients with other issues.
“Some of the staff at the hospitals is out with COVID, just like other businesses,” Dr. Kassanoff-Piper said in the interview. “So this is a real crisis.”
According to FOX 4 News, Methodist Hospital System, to curb overcrowding, posted a message on social media asking people not to come to the ER for testing but to go to a pharmacy, their doctor, or a drive-through testing site instead.