As the government shutdown rolls into its second week, some physicians are feeling its impact in their daily work.
Spine surgeon Katherine Wagner, MD, of Ventura (Calif.) Neurosurgery, spoke about the biggest obstacle the shutdown has had on her practice.
Note: This response was lightly edited.
Question: To what extent is the government shutdown affecting your day-to-day work?
Dr. Katherine Wagner: Unfortunately, Medicare stopped covering telehealth visits right around the same time this shutdown started. Our leaders in Washington are unavailable to address this issue urgently.
As a neurosurgeon, I treat patients with serious mobility issues and it’s much harder for them to get to me for in-person care. I can provide a significant amount of care via telehealth; these patients are really the ones suffering here.
On a day-to-day basis, I can no longer schedule an hour or two of telehealth visits on days when the clinic or the OR get out a little earlier than anticipated. This is a loss for me, but also for my Medicare patients who would benefit from these expedited visits.
