Moonlighting MDs in Best Position to Help During COVID

COVID-19 has turned both the entire country and the world of healthcare on its head. Nobody could have predicted what’s happened over the last couple of weeks, and preparations and concerns about the upcoming onslaught of patients, have shaken the medical community to its core. Where exactly on the curve are we? Do we have enough hospital capacity? How do we get adequate personal protective equipment for our frontline healthcare workers? Individual states are responding to the crisis by making it easier for physicians to reach these frontlines. Senior medical students are being fast-tracked through to graduation, and practicing doctors are seeing all the usual licensing and credentialing bureaucracy, being slashed. In short, if you practice medicine — you are needed fast.
Any physician who regularly works at more than one institution will already be used to working in different environments, interacting with hundreds of staff members, and well-versed in using different electronic medical records. They are less likely to feel overwhelmed going into a new hospital or clinic than, for example, a doctor who has only worked in one place for the last decade. These clinicians are therefore in an ideal position to step up at this time of need.
When you hear about institutions in need of help, assess any obvious practicalities such as distance from home, and get a full picture of what you will be getting yourself into — including the acuity of the current situation and any potential equipment shortages. You will still need to do all of the usual negotiating over your pay and review your contract thoroughly (but typically during an emergent situation, the spirit is one of flexibility on both sides). If you decide to proceed, you will likely be fast-tracked through medical credentials so that you are ready to start working ASAP. Assuming you have no major concerns on your record, this should be a breeze.
Away from a hospital or clinic, there are also other ways you can utilize your medical skills in these extraordinary times. Telemedicine is a surging field, which will likely be new to most doctors. In the current climate, it’s obviously so much safer for patients to communicate with doctors from home, either for new non-emergent problems (including minor symptoms that they are worried could be COVID-19) or for ongoing follow-up. From a federal (Medicare) level, prior restrictions on the use of telemedicine have been lifted. Many states, such as Massachusetts, have taken additional bold steps to dramatically expand telemedicine access (Massachusetts has mandated that all commercial insurance payers reimburse for these services).
Just over the last couple of weeks, seniors have been using FaceTime and other apps for the first time, to talk with their doctors from the comfort of their own home! They don’t have to immerse themselves in the healthcare setting and face the additional risk of exposure. As for the doctors, they can either be in their clinic or home office. If you are willing to give telemedicine a try, this could be just the right time to start on what will undoubtedly be the wave of the future.

However you decide to help in this national crisis — hospital, clinic, or telemedicine: Your country and patients need you.
Suneel Dhand, MD, is an internal medicine physician, author, and speaker. He is the co-founder of DocsDox, a service that helps physicians find local moonlighting and per diem opportunities, bypassing the expensive middleman.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/86274