We’re back to business, but not quite business as usual
The last time I wore my white coat was in spring of 2004, when I was finishing my clinic internship in NYC, and I swore I’d never wear one again! But times are changing, and it turns out that white lab coats and scrubs aren’t so frumpy now. My new uniform is one of the many changes I’ve made around the clinic over the last 12 weeks for myself and my team to ensure that our interactions at Emerging Energy Acupuncture are as safe and efficient as possible.
You may have noticed that we have a [new online booking system][0], so to get started, visit the new portal from our website, and create a new login. After you’ve booked an appointment online with any of our Doctors, we will see you at the office then.
You’ll arrive in your cloth face covering for your treatment, and we’ll also be wearing a mask (and our new white coat or scrubs). At the office, we’d like you to wash your hands as soon as you arrive. You’ll find two types of hand sanitizer- one basic unscented and one made by me. You can also use good old soap and water.
Our PEARL Apothecary Hand Sanitizer Gel has a subtle lemon-grassy scent featuring our all natural “Detox Stress” aromatherapy blend. It seemed fitting to add this blend to our hand sanitizer gel, since we could all use more stress reduction these days! (Keep an eye out for the all new PEARL apothecary hydrating rose hand & hair sanitizer spray, inspired in collaboration with local hair stylist [Tara Siani-Shanahan][1]...)
After hand cleansing, we’ll take your temperature with a no-contact forehead thermometer. After screening you’ll head right back to your treatment room. For now, we’ll skip the tea, magazines, product testers and waiting room.
On the way to your treatment room, you’ll see HEPA air purifiers with UV sanitization in every treatment room, a new desk area, and some social distancing guidelines on the floor.
In the room, we have removed the table warmer pads (sadly) and all cloth pillowcases (we covered the pillows with eco-friendly soft vinyl pillowcases) so that we can fully disinfect the treatment table after your treatment. Each table will be covered with a single, freshly cleaned sheet from our professional linen service. You’ll notice that you have a special container for your items (that is disinfected after each use). We’ve updated our music system, so now each room has music that we can turn on and off according to your mood. Sometimes simple quiet is just what we need to decompress!
We’ll be taking notes digitally, so you’ll see us with a laptop in the treatment room. Because we require you to keep your cloth face covering on, we are skipping tongue diagnosis, so if possible, take a close up picture of your tongue before you arrive! You can also email it to us before or after the visit and we can upload it to your file. For the most part, your treatment will be what you’re used to at Emerging Energy, but we will be wearing gloves for extra precautions. All doorbells are disinfected just before we leave it by your side for use, if needed, during your treatment.
After your relaxing treatment, you’ll checkout quickly and we’ll process any payment through our new online program. We can keep your credit card securely on file for payment with the click of a button. Receipts will be emailed if desired. If you’d like to pay by check, you still can. Either make your check out in advance, or take one of our pens to use... and you can keep it! We would love to give you an Emerging Energy pen even if you don’t use one to write a check!
When you leave our office, we begin our deep disinfection process with spraying high potency disinfectant over all surfaces in the room including doorknobs, pillow cases, tables, chairs, then we turn on our high powered UV-C sanitizing light, and leave the room while it completes its 30 minute cycle.
Since we’ve been back treating patients in the office, while we are taking many new steps, our process has been smooth, joyful and fulfilling. It’s so rewarding to see all of our patients again- old and new.
To limit time spent face-to-face, we are emailing an update form to all existing patients that schedule, so _please_ fill this out before your visit with us! For new patients, we will meet virtually via telehealth so we can meet you without a mask and [take a look at your tongue][2] so we can accurately diagnosis your condition.
We are so happy to be back in the office, helping patients achieve their best state of health in this time of transition. Now that we have the appropriate PPE (surgical masks and gloves), new uniforms, new safety precautions and protocols in place, we are confident that we can safely treat you now, throughout the next year, and beyond with limited interruption.
If we haven’t connected in a while, and you’re ready to venture out, we would love to see you!
We hope you’ve been well!
Sincerely,
Dr. Mary Claire Dilks, DAOM (CH)
PS. Please join us for our Drive-In Ear Clinic Fundraiser and get a to-go, stress relieving, ear seed treatment! 100% of the proceeds go to the RI Foundation’s Covid-19 Response Fund. [Schedule online for an upcoming date!][0]
[0]: http://emergingenergy.janeapp.com
[1]: http://www.tarasiani.com/wp/
[2]: https://giovanni-maciocia.com/tongue-gallery/