March 23, 2020

To Our Patients,

We sincerely hope this communication finds you and your families well and safe.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has quickly changed our daily lives and Avenue Medical Associates is doing everything we can to help during this public health crisis.

As part of our ongoing effort to help contain the spread of COVID-19, we are now offering virtual video visits with Dr. Abrams and Dr. Klapowitz as an alternative to office visits.

To schedule your visit, simply call our office during business hours and request a virtual video/phone visit. Our staff will then schedule an appointment to speak with and see your doctor via cellphone.

What a virtual video visit?
A video visit is similar to an office visit, only instead of traveling to see your doctor you can video conference with them from your home (we can, if necessary, also do a visit with voice only, no video). Our providers can assess symptoms, make a diagnosis, recommend treatment, and send prescriptions electronically to your pharmacy. These appointments can address ANY symptoms including, but not limited to, those symptoms related to COVID 19 AND all questions related to exposure & testing for COVID 19.

What types of appointments can I schedule as virtual video visits?
Followup and medical issue visits, mental-health visits, post-operative appointments, and dermatology issues are all examples of visits that can be done by video chat.

Will my insurance plan cover a virtual video visit?
The process is the same as a face-to-face office visit. We will continue to take payment at the time of your virtual visit, accepting all major credit cards. You may check with your insurance plan to confirm video visits (“telehealth”) or phone visit coverage. We will be sending you a claim form that you can submit to your insurance company. Please note: If you have Medicare Part “B” as your primary insurance, you will not need to pay the fee for video visits (we will bill Medicare).

What if I need an appointment and I want to see my doctor in-person?
Avenue Medical Associates is taking every precaution to keep our patients, staff and doctors safe in this changed environment, including modifying our hours or closing, if necessary, our 85th street office location. Dr Abrams or Dr Klapowitz will determine with you if you require an in-person visit. Please note: We are not currently evaluating or testing patients with coronavirus-related symptoms in our office.

We are here to support you during these difficult times.
We will get through this together.
-Dr. Robert Abrams, Dr. Julian Klapowitz, & The Avenue Medical Associates Staff

For more detailed information and recommendations regarding COVID 19 (including information about testing), we recommend you visit Dr. Klapowitz’s coronavirus page.  For very useful general coronavirus information, please see also Google’s COVID-19 Website.