In an effort to keep you, our staff, and other patients in our offices safe, and in accordance with CDC guidelines, we ask that anyone entering our office wear a face mask or face covering. These may be made of cloth (including scarf or bandana) and should cover your mouth and nose. Please see here for more information on this and other COVID-19 information/policies.

While we have begun making patients aware of the policy during their visits this week, this will become mandatory on Monday, May 11th.

We continue stringent patient and staff health screening protocols, enhanced cleaning/disinfecting procedures, and social distancing in the office. Our primary objective is to keep our environments safe for patients and staff.

Our efforts are to ensure you have access to the best care during this pandemic.

Thank you for your support during this time,

Physicians and Staff of Atlanta Center for Reproductive Medicine

Coronavirus/COVID-19 Updates

ACRM is actively monitoring the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) outbreak and continues to prioritize the safety and well-being of our patients. We have an obligation to limit potential COVID-19 exposure to our patients, employees and medical treatment team. We have instituted a policy of testing for all patients undergoing a procedure involving anesthesia (egg retrieval, operative hysteroscopy or D&C) or those undergoing a frozen embryo transfer.

Telehealth Appointments Available

Beginning May 26, we will be providing a self-administered COVID-19 RNA test that can identify the SARS COV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. Because of the risks of undergoing procedures while unknowingly infected with COVID-19, there is no option to decline this testing if you wish to proceed with treatment.

Patients in an IVF cycle will be tested on the 5th OR 7th day of stimulation injections. Patients in an embryo transfer cycle will be tested at the mid-cycle appointment prior to starting progesterone injections. Patients having an OR procedure will be scheduled to come into the office 3-5 days prior to their procedure for their testing. This test will only be performed at the Perimeter location. The results will be ready in 3-4 business days at which time you will be notified. Patients with positive tests will be required to postpone or cancel their procedure.

Frozen embryo transfer cycles will be starting June 1st with the first transfer scheduled for June 22nd. However, due to the high volume of patients waiting to do a transfer, we are now scheduling into July for available transfer spots. Though this will be frustrating for patients, remember that our excellent outcomes rely on maintenance of high quality in the IVF laboratory. Therefore, we are obligated to carefully manage the volume of cases we do daily.

We will be restarting all monitoring for and performance of timed intercourse and IUI cycles as of June 1st.

We will be reopening the Howell Mill office (1800 Howell Mill Road #675) for morning monitoring starting June 1st. As noted above, patients will still be required to have their day 5 or day 7 monitoring done at the Perimeter office so we may perform the SARS-CoV-2 RNA test.

We continue to require that anyone entering our office wear a face mask or face covering. These may be made of cloth (including scarf or bandana) and should cover your mouth and nose. Please see here for more information on this and other COVID-19 information/policies.

We will continue to offer telehealth appointments for all new patient and follow-up patient visits to limit the number of staff and patients in the office.

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS:

Patients will be required to come to the clinic alone. No guests will be allowed EXCEPT for obstetric ultrasounds.
Patients will be required to wear a mask or face covering when entering the clinic. Please visit the CDC website for information regarding acceptable face coverings.
All patients will be screened via questionnaire, temperature and symptom history before being allowed into the clinic.
A limited number of patients will be allowed into the lobby and clinic at any given time. You may be asked to wait in your car until your appointment time has arrived or there is sufficient space in the lobby to safely accommodate you.
We will not be able to accommodate IVF monitoring visits outside of a specific time block in order to provide the safest environment for our patients and staff.
For patients who are considered high-risk for COVID-19 exposure (health care providers), we will continue providing care as long as you are asymptomatic and have not been exposed to anyone with COVID-19. For those with known exposure to a person with COVID-19 but are asymptomatic and confirmed negative with testing, we will continue your care. Those with known exposure to someone with COVID-19 and asymptomatic but unable to obtain a confirmatory negative test will be required to pause testing or treatment for 14 days or until a negative test is obtained.

SERVICES OFFERED:

Telemedicine visits for current and new patients
Testing visits for healthy patients
IVF for healthy patients; no visitors allowed at the ultrasound or egg retrieval visits.
Frozen embryo transfers (see above for details regarding dates); no visitors will be allowed at the ultrasound or transfer appointments.
Timed intercourse and IUI cycles; no visitors allowed at the ultrasound or IUI visits.
Obstetric visits for healthy patients through “graduation.” Only one visitor allowed at the ultrasound visits.
ACRM “satellite” offices in Marietta and John’s Creek will be closed until further notice.
We will be utilizing a rotational schedule for physicians and nurses. This means that a patient may not see her primary physician during monitoring (but will have the option of scheduling phone calls or telemedicine appointments to discuss questions or concerns).

COMMUNICATION:

New patients may schedule telemedicine visits by calling 678-841-1089.
Due to the need to limit and rotate staff, traditional care teams will not be used for the foreseeable future. This requires strict prioritization of email responses and appointment scheduling. We ask for understanding during this time as we institute this new model.

Current patients should utilize universal inboxes shown below:

all medical questions to clinicalteam@acrm.com or 770-817-8718.
all scheduling questions to pcc@acrm.com or 770-817-8719.
all financial questions to accountrep@acrm.com or 770-817-8720.
These new email addresses will replace previously used nursing and PCC email addresses until further notice.

We will continue to update this website. Please know that we are here for you in this time of uncertainty and that health and safety is our priority

To limit the potential spread of COVID-19, we are asking that patients follow the instructions below:

If you are actively sick with fever, please stay home until the fever has been clear of your system for 14 days post fever to prevent the spread of disease to our patients and staff.
Please contact your primary care physician or local health department if you are ill or have any health concerns. ACRM does not have the ability to test for COVID-19.
Please do not bring your child/children with you to any of your appointments.
Avoid traveling to areas with active outbreaks of COVID-19 and remain away from others that may have traveled to at risk areas for a minimum of 14 days.
If you have traveled to a country where COVID-19 has been reported, we recommend that you postpone treatments and all office appointments until two weeks after returning home.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty or if you’ve been around those that are sick.
Adhere to social distancing (i.e. avoid large gatherings or unnecessary close exposure to people outside of your family) for the immediate future
Wear a face mask or face covering when out in public.

COVID-19 Q&A for Patients

Q: Does COVID-19 impact fertility?

A: Currently, there is no data or scientific evidence to suggest that COVID-19 impacts fertility.

Q: Do you recommend that I postpone any attempt at getting pregnant until the virus is contained?

A: We are not currently discouraging patients from attempting conception. However, please note that the impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy, especially early pregnancy, remains unknown at this time.

Q: Will COVID-19 increase my risk of miscarriage?

A: Currently, there is no information on adverse pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19. Pregnancy loss, including miscarriage and stillbirth, has been observed in cases of infection with other related coronaviruses [SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV] during pregnancy. High fevers during the first trimester of pregnancy can increase the risk of certain birth defects. (Source: CDC)

Q: If I recently traveled abroad, will that impact when I start treatment at ACRM?

A: We recommend waiting two weeks after traveling to areas with reported cases of COVID-19 before you visit the office or clinic.

Q: How will you ensure that my eggs/embryos/sperm will remain safe in the lab?

A: ACRM, a CCRM network clinic, has some of the most state-of-the-art technologies available and implements some of the strictest lab standards and protocols in the industry, to provide our patients with the gold standard in patient care.

Q: What happens if I get exposed to COVID-19 during my IVF cycle?

A: If you have symptoms of respiratory distress, which is common with COVID-19, your IVF cycle will be canceled. You do not want to use anesthesia to suppress respirations even further, at a time that you are already compromised due to a viral infection. ACRM wants to protect our patients and our staff from a potential exposure, thus if you are ill your cycle will be canceled.

Q: Does ACRM plan on shutting down for a period of time?

A: No, ACRM will not be shutting down, as there are flu and cold viruses all year long. As a healthcare facility, ACRM is accustomed and proficient at infection control like many hospitals are. ACRM has policies and procedures for cleaning our instruments and patient care areas to reduce the risk of spreading infections. However, we will be conducting more visits via telemedicine and deferring nonessential visits for the time being.

For current travel advisories and up-to-date information on COVID-19, please visit the CDC’s COVID-19 website.

Please print this form if advised to do so by an ACRM associate Essential Patient Authorization to Travel form