Although most healthcare organizations have detailed disaster plans in place, everyone has been challenged by the difficult circumstances presented by the COVID-19 outbreak. Healthcare organizations are now tasked with surging volumes of patients while confronting equipment shortages and evolving social distancing protocols.

To truly slow the spread of the virus and “flatten the curve”, providers need to find new ways of testing and treating patients quickly, while allowing these individuals to maintain a safe distance from others.

This post originally appeared on the CereCore blog. 

We are at an unprecedented time in our history, and much of the impact of COVID-19 has not been experienced in our lifetime. Most health systems have well-established crisis and disaster plans that encompasses IT, but these plans haven’t been tested to this degree until now.

A little over a year ago, Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Christine Elliott announced the provincial government’s plan to revitalize the public healthcare system. The plan centers around creating a more integrated and sustainable system that focuses on patients’ needs and outcomes by connecting them to the right settings throughout their care journeys. 

Life seems so easy for industries outside of healthcare when it comes to incorporating tablets into their business. Generally, all they have to do is pick a tablet, and pick a rugged tablet case. Boom, done!

If you’re a hospital trying to modernize and introduce tablets, it’s a different situation, as you have so many things to take into account.

At Hancock Regional Hospital, we offer a state-of-the-art outpatient wound care clinic specializing in all types of skin and wound care including, burns, lacerations, pressure injuries, ulcers, and surgical wounds. We also treat many people with chronic, non-healing wounds, often associated with complications from diabetes and related vascular disorders.

Expectant mothers present a unique set of challenges for the providers who care for them; aside from their own health, clinicians are also tracking and responding to the needs of their unborn babies.

In 2014, there were 28 million patient discharges in U.S. hospitals. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimates that in 2017, six million senior citizens were readmitted to hospitals, which cost an average of $15-20 million.

Delivering effective care to homebound patients carries a number of challenges — from scheduling aides to providing up-to-date care instructions to transmitting information back to the doctor’s office or hospital.

In facing these challenges, Kalispell Regional Healthcare (KRH), a network of three hospitals, 32 clinics, and 20 affiliated outreach clinics in northwestern Montana, weighed the benefits of a new system with the potential costs.

In 2014, Parkview Medical Center realized that it needed to reduce its readmission rate significantly while also fixing a communication gap between home health care agencies and other post-acute facilities. To address these issues, my director and a team of other leaders joined together to pilot a new transition care center that went live in 2016.