Fayetteville, Ga. (May 14, 2020) – Tashinea Bernadin, DO, a physician with Piedmont Healthcare at the Fayette South Family Practice in Fayetteville, Ga., is seeing patients both in-person and on screens via telemedicine these days. Regardless of their symptoms or ailments, COVID-19 and safety is on every patient’s mind. Dr. Bernadin and her staff have a number of processes in place to keep everyone safe.

“Every patient is required to wear a mask or something that covers their nose and mouth,” Dr. Bernadin said. “When patients arrive, we ask a series of screening questions and take their temperature before they are allowed in. If a patient has any respiratory symptoms, Dr. Bernadin may see them outside, outfitted in full personal protective equipment, and decide on a further course of action from there. Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, she has only seen one patient outside. She recommended the patient test for COVID-19 and the results were negative.

Prior to the pandemic, Dr. Bernadin did not have a background in offering telemedicine, but she and her patients, who also have not ever had appointments over video, are getting used to it.

“The telemedicine appointments are good for people who may be at a higher risk of infection or complications, or they just don’t feel comfortable coming to a doctor’s office during the crisis,” Dr. Bernadin said. “I can see if they are in distress, or anxious, and by having them press on certain areas or move certain appendages I can see if they are in pain.”

Dr. Bernadin sees more people in person than via telemedicine, but she is glad that a video option is available. She understands how scary or stressful the current climate can be. She recommends following the CDC guidelines; practice good hand hygiene, maintain social distancing, and wear a mask in public, and knows that not everybody follows the same protocols.

“I’ve seen people wearing masks upside down or not covering their noses,” Dr.Bernadin said. “There’s also a lot of people wearing gloves everywhere they go. The problem is if you touch a doorknob that’s contaminated and then touch all sorts of other things at a store, or wherever, you’re still spreading that contamination around.”

Dr. Bernadin is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and has a special interest in chronic disease management and women’s health.

To learn more about Dr. Bernadin or telemedicine, visit piedmont.org.