Collaboration Among Providers to Treat COVID-19 Patients at Home Opens Beds for Those with More Serious Illness

Abstract

In March 2020, COVID-19 cases were beginning to emerge in North Florida and concern over hospital bed capacity started to rise. Baptist Health System in Jacksonville, Florida quickly formed a multidisciplinary team to explore how we could increase hospital bed capacity. Utilizing the resources within our affiliated home healthcare agency, an Enhanced Home Support Model (EHSM) with a COVID-19 protocol was developed. The protocol was implemented by home health nurses and included COVID-19 testing, blood tests, and the ability to start oxygen at home on admission. Patients were provided self-monitoring equipment and information about self-isolating and infection control within the home. After the initial visit, the home health nurse and the primary care physician shared collaborative oversight through virtual visits. This article discusses how we initially approached identification of severity and the methods we used to implement the protocol. The results section offers information about the number of patients utilizing this protocol between April and December 2020; patient and physician satisfaction; and considers strengths and weaknesses of the program. In conclusion, the EHSM protocol allowed patients to receive high quality emergent care at home and increased access to hospital emergency departments and inpatient hospital beds for more seriously ill patients.