Virtual visits on the rise at Children's Hospital New Orleans

Providers at Children's Hospital New Orleans are finding creative ways to see their patients while practicing social distancing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual care program at Children's Hospital New Orleans, also known as Virtual Care at CHNOLA, connects pediatric patients across the state to our robust network of Primary Care Providers and our highly trained Pediatric Specialists and Subspecialists all through a secure video connection.

“Since this pandemic started, we realize that kids still need to see their doctors and their specialists, even though we don’t want them coming to the hospital, so that we can keep them away from areas that might be at risk for COVID-19,” says telemedicine director, Dr. Aaron Martin.

Dr. Martin says in a little more than a week, Children’s Hospital went from 30 doctors providing telemedicine to about 200.

“Before, we were doing around 250 visits a month. Now, we’re doing about 250 visits a day,” says Dr. Martin.

These virtual visits have been more routine care visits than coronavirus related visits. Still, those with the symptoms can still be seen virtually.

“Our pediatric providers can screen them and talk to them to determine what level of care they need. If they need to go to one of our offices to get tested, they can. We’ve tested quite a few patients, but fortunately coronavirus is not as prevalent in kids and certainly not in the severe form in kids,” says Dr. Martin.

To take part in Children’s Hospital virtual care, call 504.837.7760 to request your video visit.