1. Academic Nurse-Managed Community Clinics Transitioning to Telehealth: Case Report on the Rapid Response to COVID-19
- Author
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Y Alicia Hong, Rebecca Sutter, Alison Evans Cuellar, and Megan Harvey
- Subjects
Telemedicine ,telehealth ,Safety net ,education ,nurse ,Specialty ,Telehealth ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Nursing ,Pandemic ,Health care ,030212 general & internal medicine ,clinic ,health care economics and organizations ,COVID-19, nurse practitioners ,Original Paper ,safety net clinics ,business.industry ,transition ,Triage ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,community clinics ,Health education ,telemedicine ,Psychology ,business - Abstract
Background In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many health care organizations have adopted telehealth. The current literature on transitioning to telehealth has mostly been from large health care or specialty care organizations, with limited data from safety net or community clinics. Objective This is a case report on the rapid implementation of a telehealth hub at an academic nurse-managed community clinic in response to the national COVID-19 emergency. We also identify factors of success and challenges associated with the transition to telehealth. Methods This study was conducted at the George Mason University Mason and Partners clinic, which serves the dual mission of caring for community clinic patients and providing health professional education. We interviewed the leadership team of Mason and Partners clinics and summarized our findings. Results Mason and Partners clinics reacted quickly to the COVID-19 crisis and transitioned to telehealth within 2 weeks of the statewide lockdown. Protocols were developed for a coordination hub, a main patient triage and appointment telephone line, a step-by-step flowchart of clinical procedure, and a team structure with clearly defined work roles and backups. The clinics were able to maintain most of its clinical service and health education functions while adapting to new clinic duties that arose during the pandemic. Conclusions The experiences learned from the Mason and Partners clinics are transferable to other safety net clinics and academic nurse-led community clinics. The changes arising from the pandemic have resulted in sustainable procedures, and these changes will have a long-term impact on health care delivery and training.
- Published
- 2020
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