Covid-19 Safety Plan
Background
The health, safety and wellness of our patients, practitioners and staff is always our number 1 priority.
On March 17th, 2020 based on the most recent information about COVID-19 and its spread, Backs in Action made the decision as responsible members of our community to suspend all in-clinic appointments to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Now that COVID-19 restrictions have been eased, we have resumed our in-clinic appointments with our first appointments being offered as of May 19th.
The Directors at Backs in Action, in consultation with our health partners, Worksafe BC, the BC Centre for Disease Control and the various colleges and associations that govern our disciplines have developed and implemented a far-reaching Safety Plan to make our clinics safe for all who use our clinic. We have made changes to our office layout, patient visit procedures, cleaning and disinfecting protocols and safety guidelines. These include:
Facilities
Office Layout
- Protective plexiglass barriers at reception
- Adjusting the layout of the clinic to be more conducive to physical distancing
- Removing magazines, display products, water dispenser, pens and other objects and surfaces conducive to being touched
- Informative signage throughout the clinic, at the entrance, at reception, in washrooms and at washing stations
- Unidirectional flow through clinic indicated by floor signs
- Separate entrance and exit doors
Cleaning and Disinfection
- Disinfecting of high-touch surfaces multiple times each day
- Hand washing and hand sanitizing stations throughout the clinic
- Sanitization of treatment beds, equipment, tools and surfaces touched before each patient
- Modified cleaning protocols
- Modified laundry protocols
Patient Visits
Booking and Pre-Appointment Communications
- Screening of clients when making appointments and on the appointment day
- Continuing to offer Telehealth services, which may be combined with in-clinic appointments.
Patient Arrival and Flow
- Floor signage indicating distances patients should be apart from each other
- Staggered appointment schedules to ensure clients do not arrive/leave the clinics at the same time
- Limited number of people in the common areas
- Triaging of patients for those with greatest needs where necessary
- Sharing of revised clinic protocols and plans with patients before visit
- Scheduling to limit number of patients and practitioners in clinic at any time
- Procedures to limit on-site waiting
- Procedures implemented for handling potentially positive COVID-19 cases
- Washing of hands by practitioner and patient prior to treatment
Treatment and Post-Treatment Processes
- Modified assessment and treatment protocols
- Gap times between appointments to reduce patient volume and density and to accommodate sanitization between appointments
- Disinfecting touched objects, tools, equipment, treatment beds after each appointment
- Washing or disinfection of patient and practitioner’s hands after treatment
- Patients encouraged to book follow-up appointments with therapist, online or by follow-up phone call to discourage numbers at reception
Payments
- Payments taken before appointments to increase numbers at reception
- Procedures to decrease contact with surfaces and objects including direct billing procedures and touchless payment options
Operations and Administration
Safety Procedures and Implementation
- Safety protocols developed based on guidance provided by BC Centre for Disease Control, WorkSafeBC and each clinician’s professional regulatory body.
- Training provided to all staff and practitioners on disinfection and safety protocols
- Review of procedures will be undertaken at regular intervals
