Patient’s Experiences in a Medicalized Hotel for Covid-19 Acute Care Support. An Observational Study with a Cross-Sectional Design

Abstract

On 11th March 2020, the novel coronavirus Covid-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The 14th of March, the Spanish government declared the State of Emergency. Urgent reorganization was required to give answers to the needs of this new illness. The number of patients admitted grew exponentially and resources were insufficient to care for such a number of people at home. The Hospital at Home (HaH) was called to transform a hotel into a medicalized healthcare space. The Medicalized Hotel wanted to solve three needs: grouping patients, providing more beds and allowing the isolation. Current health policy emphasizes on patient experience as one of the key components of quality of care. Patients must be involved in decision-making about their heath situation and treatment in order to provide an integrated healthcare. Analyzing patients' experience will provide knowledge and will allow finding out if the Medicalized Hotel was a good alternative. Aim: To assess the patient experience during hospital admission in a Medicalized Hotel for COVID-19, from 25th March to 15th May, and variables that may influence these experiences. Methods: Observational and descriptive study with a cross-sectional design. The study population (n=517) consisted of patients admitted in Medicalized Hotel who met inclusion criteria. Patient experience collected by the Picker Patient Experience questionnaire, PPE-15 (translated to Catalan and Spanish) and four open questions analyzed in a qualitative way. Other variables: Socio-demographic and review clinical records. Results: 427 patients (83% of admitted) answered the questionnaire (52% male, 55 yrs (63%)). Main results: being treated with respect and dignity (95%), receiving similar information from different professionals (84%) and getting understanding answers by doctors and nurses (79%, 86%). 52% of participants identified no areas for improvement and <25% of improvement areas were related to food quality and communication difficulties, due to pandemic isolation measures. These contributions enhanced in: creating a clean and dirty area;improve the welcome material reception and documented information on discharge;activities for patients, such as a library, app and mobiles. Conclusions: The Medicalized Hotel, led by the HaH team, was a safe and effective alternative to acute hospital care. Grouping patients together increased HaH's effectiveness and prevented the Hospital's collapse during pandemia. Patients' experiences have been highly positive and contributed to form the medicalized hotel. With further validation, this study may be used by health professionals and organizations to improve healthcare and enhance patient experience.