Mass General Urology Patients Receive Care During COVID-19

TO: Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Urology Patients and Families

Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mass General Department of Urology has continued to provide essential, safe and effective in-person care. Now, as the state proceeds with its reopening plan, we are working to ensure access to additional clinic-based visits, procedural and surgical care. We have taken unprecedented steps to ensure office visits and procedures are welcoming and safe. Our Safe Care Commitment will be in place throughout our Boston and Danvers clinic locations, our surgical sites and across the hospital.

We recommend that our patients keep their scheduled clinic and/or surgical appointments and do not postpone their care, unless recommended by your physician. We are also seeing new patients for consultation. Most procedural care, routine lab testing and radiology exams can be scheduled and performed. 

Clinic-Based Procedural Care

The hours of each provider’s in-person availability will vary to ensure that we are appropriately limiting the number of staff in the office at any time.  If you need a clinic-based procedure, you may see a different provider than usually follows you.  If this is the case, we will work to ensure that you have a virtual follow-up with your respective provider within 7 days of your clinic procedure to discuss the results of the procedure.

Virtual Care

Several of our secretaries, medical assistants, nurses and doctors are working from home and some outpatient clinic visits have been changed to “virtual visit” clinic appointments. Virtual visits are also called telehealth visits and are being used to promote physical distancing. They use either your smartphone or a personal computer so you may see and speak to your clinician.

 Virtual visits will continue to be an important part of how we care for you in the future and our dedicated team of Advanced Practice Providers (Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants) will play an instrumental role in these visits.  Should you be scheduled for a virtual visit, you will likely be scheduled with your Care Team’s Advanced Practice Provider (Physician Assistant or Nurse Practitioner), who is working closely with your physician to ensure you are receiving timely care.

Our Commitment to Your Safety

For those who require in-person office, procedural or surgical care, at the recommendation of your provider, we have taken the necessary precautions to ensure our space is safe for both staff and patients. Below is an overview of our efforts:

• Enhanced cleaning and disinfection of our facilities
• Patients and staff are screened for symptoms and exposures each day
• Reduced volume of patients to allow physical distancing
• Staggered arrival times to prevent patients from coming in contact with others
• Rapid admission to the exam or procedure room for clinic patients to avoid the waiting room
• After procedures, patients will be brought to the front door by our staff to be picked up by their escort

What Do I Do if my Surgery Was Postponed?

Mass General decided to delay elective surgeries in order to conserve resources for COVID-19 care and ensure the safety of our patients and all those at the hospital. Though the name implies that “elective” means the surgery is by choice, that is not necessarily true. Elective surgeries are ones planned in advance and include many types of surgeries performed by Mass General Department of Urology.

However, we are now available and prepared to resume operations and see you at the hospital, either in person or virtually (online). We can help you decide which type of care is most appropriate for your situation.

If you have any questions for your Urology provider, please use Patient Gateway as the most direct and efficient manner to contact your care team.