Transcription:

Scott Webb (Host): Fear of COVID-19 has caused many Americans to delay care for acute and chronic health issues. Doctors' offices, and hospitals are safe. And now with the COVID 19 vaccine, so readily available, it's time to put your fears aside and seek medical treatment if you need it. And joining me today to help emphasize these points is Dr. Scott Wegner. He's the Chief Medical Officer of Genesis Healthcare System and President of the Genesis Medical Group. This is Sounds of Good Health with Genesis brought to you by Genesis Healthcare System. I'm Scott Webb. So, thank you for joining us today, Dr. Wegner. I know that we've all had a lot to deal with in the past year. Your teams at Genesis have continued to provide the high quality care the community counts on, but I know many of us were afraid of going to the doctor for fear of contracting COVID-19. So, maybe upfront here, tell us how this delay in care may have impacted our health.

Scott Wegner, MD (Guest): We are very concerned that failure to care for chronic conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and also to get routine screening examinations has had potential for real harm to the patient. There are some national data that have suggested up to half of people have delayed routine care, and there is a growing body of evidence that this has led to more negative health outcomes like strokes, out of control diabetes and a number of other things.

Host: And let's go through, you mentioned a few of them there, but what types of healthcare have people been delaying?

Dr. Wegner: Well I think many folks have just put off those routine preventative care visits. And so for folks with chronic healthcare conditions like high blood pressure and also associated with increased stress during the pandemic, maybe change in lifestyle; people have spent many months with poorly controlled high blood pressure, and the same goes for diabetes. And this we know really increases the risk of a bad outcome and bad outcomes are very serious and can be even life-threatening.

Host: Yeah. And of course we sort of understand don't we, that people have been weighing in their minds that should I go to my primary? I've got this COVID thing and trying to figure all this out. And even though the experts like yourself are saying, hey, doctors' offices, hospitals, it's all safe. We're all wearing PPE. And especially now with people being able to get the vaccine, seems like a good time to go, but yet we're still trying to convince people. And when we talk about chronic conditions, why is it important to diagnose them early?

Dr. Wegner: Take cancer for example, which is my area of specialty. We have noticed an uptick of patients presenting now with later stage cancers. So, things like screening colonoscopy, mammography, and for people who smoke, lung cancer screening CAT scans, those things lead to early detection of life-threatening diseases. And so if you put off those screenings, your chance of presenting to care with a disease that can't be cured, goes up. So, that is a source of worry for all of us in this field.

Host: You mentioned that the data, even though COVID only been with us for about a year or so, the data suggests that people are delaying healthcare. And so what are you really seeing in the numbers? And you know, what can we share with folks about really the importance of not delaying care.

Dr. Wegner: If you look at nationally, there have been some very interesting survey data. Some of them have indicated that up to 85% of folks have noticed worsening mental health. About a third of people have noticed increases in addiction. About a third of people have found that their chronic conditions are getting much worse. That's really only the psychological side of the spectrum. For people with chronic pain, maybe they're putting off a hernia surgery, a back surgery for a debilitating condition. You can imagine that several months of being in pain or being debilitated or unable to do your job has a real negative impact on your entire life. And so those are the types of things that we worry about and certainly have seen the numbers drop off to indicate that they're a real problem for us.

Host: So, let's talk about some of the symptoms that we really shouldn't ignore.

Dr. Wegner: As far as COVID goes, I think anybody with fever and respiratory symptoms, especially shortness of breath or chest pain, needs to call their doctor and get a checkup. I think if you notice that you have an illness that makes you feel as severely as you might feel with the flu, it definitely needs to be checked out. For chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes, many of those things aren't driven by symptoms, however, you know. So, having that routine visit to get your blood pressure taken, have your blood sugar monitored, get your cholesterol checked, are things that there's really no substitute for seeing your family doctor.

Host: Yeah. So let's talk about that preventative care that Genesis offers. You know, tell us what and how Genesis is helping people to really prevent some of the things that we're talking about today.

Dr. Wegner: So, we have a variety of ways for you to access care. This can be done either in person, through your doctor, and all of our offices have created safe methods so that you're not at risk when you come see your doctor. We're also able to do visits by video or telephone in many cases. And you can access care through our website, schedule an appointment through there. Or if you don't have a family doctor, you can call the Genesis one-call number.

Host: I think really touching on elective surgeries and quality of life. And so some of the things you talked about people putting off like hernias or things like that. Let's talk about those elective surgeries. Are they safe? Is Genesis doing them and how can people get those scheduled?

Dr. Wegner: We are back and running at full capacity, ready to do those surgeries. And I'm absolutely positive that we can do them safely. We have very rigorous screening protocols. We take the appropriate precautions, so that you're not exposed to infectious diseases or other things in the hospital. You can access us again through the website or your family doctor, or you can call the Genesis Surgical Center and those appointments can be scheduled and we can get you in for your surgery.

Host: Doctor as we wrap up today, anything else you want to tell people or share about the importance of getting that preventative care and really not delaying care due to COVID-19.

Dr. Wegner: Yeah, I think it really, it's very important to stay on top of your health. By the time you feel sick, you’ve missed an opportunity, I think. We are totally committed to delivering safe care here at Genesis. We feel very comfortable that your experience will be safe. And I urge anybody to take the opportunity now to kind of get back on track, take care of those things that they've put off during the last year or 13 months. And we're here to serve.

Host: Yeah, that's great. And well said and great advice from an expert. So, Doctor, thanks so much for your time today and you stay well.

Dr. Wegner: Well, thank you very much. You too.

Host: For more information on preventative care at Genesis, go to Genesishcs.org. And thanks for listening to Sounds of Good Health with Genesis brought to you by Genesis Healthcare System. If you've found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the full podcast library for additional topics of interest. I'm Scott Webb. Stay well.