Infectious Disease Commons^™

Ensure Follow-Up For Functional Issues Post Covid-19, Nethra Ankam, Md, Tulasi Gude, Md, Kristofer Feeko, Do, Shannon Ames, Pt, Catherine Piersol, Ot, Tiffany Prince-Kandrakota, Pt, Erica Rao, Pt, Kristen Stout, Pt, Monina Florendo, Pt

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

What's the Problem?

Patients post COVID-19 infection have functional limitations at home related to the multi-system effects of the infection, in addition to elevated risk for post-intensive care syndrome.

Our goals were to ensure patients had the resources they needed to safely mobilize at home, ensure referral to appropriate agencies for home care and therapies, and provide guidance on return to life activities in the setting of the stay-at-home order, need to self-quarantine, and limited outpatient therapy options.

Disposable Equipment For Efficient Home Sleep Apnea Testing And Minimizing Human Handling At The Sleep Laboratory, Abigail Quintos, Robert Tavella, Karl Doghramji

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

As part of the disease mitigation strategy at the time of the pandemic, the Jefferson sleep laboratory has completely shifted towards utilization of the third-party vendor for HSATs. The vendor specializes in handling, shipping and disinfecting the HSAT equipment. They send the data electronically to the Jefferson sleep laboratory for interpretation.

We propose a single-use, fully disposable HSAT kit (WatchPAT One) to further minimize potential virus exposures and spread. The single-use design allows no return shipment, no charging or downloading, no cleaning and no infection transmission risk.

Since the equipment utilizes a different mechanism - peripheral arterial tone (PAT) signal …

Virtual Community Health Workers: Outreach Calls During Covid-19, Geoffrey Hayden, Md, Paula Ostroff, Rn, Ms, Emily Romano, Bs, Imani Gray-Taylor, Carl Johnson, Bs, Angelique Miller, Sharla Thomas, Ba, Gina Mccoy, Bs, Deborah Ziring, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

The “Clinical Experience” program at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College, established in 2017, provides pre-clerkship students with an opportunity to identify and address patients’ needs for social determinants of health (SDoH). The COVID-19 pandemic led to a suspension of the student program in the clinical environment, but the CHWs continued to address patients’ social needs from a remote setting. In the absence of established best practices regarding patient outreach calls from a remote setting, we sought to develop an effective workflow that would mask the CHWs’ personal cell phones while leading to fewer “unable to reach” scenarios and improved case …

Progression Of Patient Cohorting In Response To Covid-19 At The Jefferson Methodist Emergency Department, Kory S. London, Md, Efrat Kean, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

COVID-19 is a predominantly respiratory disease and Philadelphia is a city with a myriad of pulmonary comorbidities such as asthma and COPD.

Use of bronchodilator medications through a nebulizer machine is considered an 'Aerosol Generating Procedure' (AGP), and increases risks to staff who and complicates the cleaning and processing of rooms and equipment where AGPs are performed. Additionally, there is a severe limitation in availability of negative pressure rooms, which mitigate these AGPs.

With the COVID pandemic causing supply chain problems across the country, a multidisciplinary approach was required to appropriately ration available inhalers (MDI), the alternatives to nebulized treatments, …

Response To Rapidly Changing Healthcare Information Regarding Covid-19 With Virtual Journal Club, Kelly Hughes, Md, Rachel Redfield, Md, Jetmir Vojnika, Md, Mark Mallozzi, Md, R. Benson Jones, Md, Reem Aoun, Md, Dianna Cheney-Peters, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Virtual twice weekly COVID-19 journal club (JC) created to optimize residency and faculty education regarding COVID-19 management, critical appraisal of new literature, and improve departmental collaboration and connection.

Screening Tool To Ensure Optimal Patient Care And Function Post Covid Diagnosis, Nethra Ankam, Md, Shannon Ames, Pt, Dpt, Mba, Tiffany Prince-Kandrakota, Pt, Dpt, Ocs, Erica Rao, Pt, Dpt, Namrata Grampurohit, Phd, Otr/L, Catherine Piersol, Phd, Otr/L

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

We developed a screening tool of questions to determine which patients would benefit from outpatient PM&R visits after discharge from the hospital/ED that included: four questions looking at function, shortness of breath and cognition. Screening questions were created so a YES response triggers a referral to PM&R to assess functional and cognitive needs for the patient.

A Web-Based Application To Simulate Manual Bag-Valve-Tube Ventilation, Robert Ries, Erin Jennings, Dylan Kenna, Logan May, Robert Pugliese, Pharmd, Matt Fields, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

What’s the Problem?

• The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened ventilator capacity in many locations which has led to alternative solutions to meet surge ventilator capacity including a strategy for deploying large-scale volunteer continuous bag-valve-tube (BVT) ventilation
• While an online training module may teach the manual ventilation volunteer force requisite knowledge, evidence suggests technology enhanced simulation training in health professions training is associated with improved outcomes for desired knowledge, skills and behaviors

A Telehealth Clinical Workflow For Academic Radiation Oncology Programs During The Covid19 Pandemic, Gregor Manukian, Md, Phd, Christian Fernandez, Md, Paul Forrest, Adam Dicker, Md, Phd, Mark D. Hurwitz, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

• COVID19 has resulted in drastic measures to decrease exposure risks within healthcare systems, with cancer patients at increased risk of infection and death (Liang. Lancet Oncol. 2020).
• Telehealth is the delivery of medical care via interactive audio and/or video telecommunication services.
• Telehealth was previously used sparingly within the department of radiation oncology but has suddenly become the preferred method of contact.
• In order to maintain quality of care, patient satisfaction, resident learning, and reimbursement, a robust telehealth clinical workflow is critical.
• Our department engaged various stakeholder to quickly develop a clinical workflow.

Scrubs Tracking, Michael Saris

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

The DICE Group repurposed an ID badge scanning app originally built for OIA to enable scrubs to be checked out then checked back in, therefore enforcing rationing limits.

#Team-Based Approach To Sedation Management In Patients With Sars Cov-2 Aka Covid-19 In The Medical Icu, Hadiatou Barry, Md, Mph, Franklin Thelmo, Do, Atsoufi Amewuame-Kpehor, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a proliferation of patients developing ARDS and requiring prolonged supportive care on mechanical ventilation. As a result, patients need elevated levels of sedation, often on multiple agents for a period greater than typically seen in an ICU population. As a result of this high sedation phenomenon, patients are developing higher rates of expected complications including severe constipation, neurocognitive delay, ICU myopathy, poor sedation weaning, and high pain control requirements. These complications lead to an increased rate of mortality in a population that is already very high and decreases the rate of successful extubation and …

Expanding Care Coordination Scope To Support Covid-19 Population, Kate Behan, Cpho, Laura Gontz, Rn, Shawn Thurber, Rn, Christin Kyriss, Rn

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Covid-19 has caused overwhelming surges of cases in urban areas across the world. To assist with difficult discharges, as well as avoid unnecessary readmissions and ED visits, the care coordination team has created a comprehensive follow up care pathway across the enterprise to support our COVID-19 patients. This care pathway looks to assist Covid patients by reinforcing self-care management, providing education and supporting adherence with scheduled follow up with a primary care provider.

Technology was leveraged to interact virtually with patients who are quarantined at home. Jefferson Abington and Jefferson Northeast partnered with DinaCare to utilize their texting platform to …

John Covid-19 Employee Exposure Tracking, Michael Saris

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

We iteratively built a data entry and dashboarding platform that has enabled JOHN to track over 2,500 employees exposed to COVID-19 or at high risk of exposure to COVID-19.

Intelligence Reporting In The Face Of Covid-19: Informing Our Response Efforts, Jamie D. Garden

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

How might we provide successful intelligence?

1. Gather all relevant information from all possible sources available (academia, news, social media, human intelligence, etc.)
2. Sort intelligence based on relevance and credibility.
3. Identify trends, indicators, vulnerabilities, and warnings.
4. Assess opportunity analysis.

The Tjuh Hospital Medicine Covid19 Emergency Taskforce: A Guiding Light During The Surge Of Spring 2020, Rebecca Jaffe, Md, Alan Kubey, Md, Gretchen Diemer, Md, Michele Decastro, Lily Ackermann, Md, Christopher Haines, Md, Jesse Edwards, Md, René Daniel, Catriona Harrop, Md, Jonathan Woo, Md, Jack Stewart, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

What’s the Problem?

In mid March 2020 a highly infectious and deadly disease appeared in Philadelphia that no American physician had ever treated before. The challenge of disseminating reliable and relevant information about a novel and dangerous pathogen across practice areas cannot be understated.

Usual practices for communication and leadership are not designed to manage this kind of challenge.

Qr-Code Based Just-In-Time Platform For Perioperative Covid Guidelines, David F. Nelson, Md, Mba, Anna L. Rabinowitz, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

What’s the Problem?

When the COVID-19 Pandemic arrived in Philadelphia in March 2020, leadership at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital began a process of quickly authoring and updating a multitude of clinical guidelines, PPE (personal protective equipment) usage protocols, and surgical care standards in rapid succession.

The scope and scale of perioperative care at TJUH, which is made up of the Departments of Anesthesiology, Surgery, and Perioperative Nursing, means that a large and diverse number of individuals need timely access to a curated collection of resources that are specifically relevant to emergency airway management, urgent surgical care, testing, and recovery.

Large …

Home Telemonitoring Of Covid Patients By Medical Students At The Christiana Care Virtual Practice, Thomas Marconi, Jr, Chelsea Richards

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

SARS-Cov2 arrived in Delaware on March 11, 2020. By March 22, 2020, stay at home orders were in place1. During this time, CareVio, a subsidiary of ChristianaCare, was tasked with developing a strategy to monitor the Delaware community. CareVio repurposed Twistle – a telemonitoring application utilized to distribute symptom related surveys and conduct text message conversations for follow up. This service had the capability to act as a virtual information desk and triage patients to be seen by virtual practice providers or the emergency department. Patient monitoring via Twistle was initiated on March 18, 2020 and medical students from Sidney …

Maintaining Powered Air-Purifying Respirator (Papr) Supply Through Repair Of Damaged Hose Units By 3d Printing, Dante Varotsis, Robert Ries, Michelle Ho, Kathryn Linder, Jordan Kurzum, Robert Pugliese, Pharmd, Bon Ku, Md, Mpp, Matt Fields, Md, Morgan Hutchinson, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

What’s the Problem?

• Powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) are a type of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that serves an essential line of defense against the spread of COVID-19 and other airborne pathogens.
• Demand for PAPRs are at a premium during a time where supply chains have been disrupted.
• The hose component of the 3M™ Air-Mate™ PAPR has a fragile interface with the hood, leading to damage and rendering the PAPR unit unsafe for continued use.
• PAPR units are on backorder, as are their components.
• Given the acute need for functional PAPRs other approaches for repair were explored.

Initiatives In Anesthesia Workspace Hygiene During Covid-19: The Gray Airway Basin And The Epic Hand Hygiene Event, Anna Rabinowitz, Kent Berg, Daniel Casey, Dietrich Gravenstein

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

What’s the Problem?

The COVID-19 Pandemic has highlighted the need for anesthesia providers to decrease workspace contamination, particularly during and after airway management.

Delineation of “clean” and “dirty” spaces in the anesthesia workplace has been historically challenging, but the heightened awareness of microbial contamination presents a new opportunity to effect behavioral change among staff.

Irradiation Of N95 Masks For Their Sterilization And Reuse During The Covid19 Pandemic, Tara Tyson, Phd, Alex Kubli, Ms, Matthew Mistro, Ms, Karen Mooney, Phd, Amy Harrison, Phd, Adam Dicker, Md, Phd

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Research Objective

We sought to investigate the feasibility of irradiation for N95 mask sterilization.

A Strategy For Deploying Large-Scale Volunteer Continuous Bag Valve Tube (Bvt) Ventilation, Robert Ries, Erin Jennings, Michael Velez, Caroline Komlo, Morgan Hutchinson, Md, Robert Pugliese, Pharmd, Bon Ku, Md, Mpp, Matt Fields, Md

Health Equity and Quality Improvement (HEQI) Summit

Part 1: Hospital Guide

The hospital guide outlines steps and considerations for the healthcare system to successfully implement a manual ventilation strategy

Part 2: Online BVT Training Module

We created an online articulate evidence based training module for safe and effective Bag-Valve-Tube (BVT) ventilation for medical and nonmedical providers.