Health system shares methods for COVID-19 patient care

A chief clinical officer at Providence St. Joseph Health, Renton, Wash., the health system that cared for the first COVID-19 patient in the United States, detailed the system’s methods for dealing with the outbreak. During a Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society webinar covered in HealthLeaders Media, Amy Compton-Phillips, MD, discussed the health system’s clinical response. In addition to triaging patients in emergency departments, urgent care centers and online, the health system plans to roll out "fever clinics." This practice is similar to what pediatricians have done in the past, she noted, with separate office hours for patients with fevers to minimize contamination of other patients. Among its care practices, the health system is using telemedicine for patients who are likely to have the virus. “Having this capacity to monitor at-risk patients at home has made a huge difference,” said Compton-Phillips, “and made our clinicians much more comfortable to leave patients at home rather than admitting them for observation in our acute care facilities.” (HealthLeaders Media story, 3/12/2020)