Instagram Live: ‘We Have Kept Our Patients Informed’
Katiusca A. Acosta, MD, FAAP
May 18,2020
I work for a small private pediatric practice in Brooklyn, N.Y. South Slope Pediatrics is a four-doctor group practice. The owner of the practice, Dr. Hai Cao, was my attending during residency. Although our business is small in size, we aim to make an impact in our community in very big ways.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we had a significant decrease in the number of patients coming into the office. As a result, like many other struggling small businesses, we applied for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Because our practice didn’t qualify for the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program, many of our staff had to be furloughed, and the doctors in the practice had to reduce hours to part-time. Thankfully, we qualified for the PPP in this latest round and we have been able to restore everyone back to full-time.
Despite all of the challenges we have faced, we are still providing the best service possible to our patients. We are offering telemedicine to sick, febrile patients and are scheduling as many well visits for immunizations as we can. We also are doing virtual “'Meet and Greets” for expecting parents and virtual CPR courses for new parents.
My boss, Dr. Cao, began coming to the office on weekends to see newborns discharged early from the hospital.
From the beginning of the pandemic, we have kept our patients informed about new findings and protocols through weekly Facebook and Instagram Live sessions.
A recent Instagram Live featured information on our drive-through vaccines, a demo on how to measure your child’s head circumference and instructions on what to do if you find a tick on your child.
In addition, we have seen an outpouring of support from each other in the office and from our patients. Every Friday we have lunch together as a family. Patients and the surrounding community have been sponsoring our weekly lunches. Patients also set up a GoFundMe to help with the salary and benefits of the secretarial and administrative staff and another GoFundMe for other patients who do not have insurance.
When our office was first denied PPP, one of our parents who works for a TV station did a news report using us as an example of what was happening to small businesses because of a lack of PPP funds. We felt that it was important to be featured in this news report to bring awareness to the challenges that small businesses, especially pediatric practices, are facing.
The pandemic has affected us and our families in many ways, but we are still showing up to work every day and serving our patients with kindness, compassion and a warm smile every time.
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*The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
About the Author
Katiusca A. Acosta, MD, FAAP
Katiusca A. Acosta, MD, FAAP, is a primary care pediatrician at South Slope Pediatrics in Brooklyn, N.Y. She mentors two pediatricians through the AAP Mentoring Program and volunteers with Physicians for Human Rights, a US-based non-profit organization that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against human rights violations.