Practice Management Alert

Making decisions about operations as a healthcare facility may differ than making decisions about what’s best for your business — and staff — during an outbreak of infectious disease.

Although there are general best practices that apply to everyone, business owners and managers should get a full idea of the risks, fully evaluate what’s happening with transmission locally in their communities, and make decisions from that informed perspective, says Ian Williams, PhD, deputy incident manager at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a March 10 webinar hosted by the National Safety Council.

Most important? Think local: Make decisions based on what’s going on in your community now. And share this perspective with your patients if they’re looking for advice on what to do.

“Community mitigation looking at things in their community to lessen transmission on a community level,” Williams explains.

Get in Touch With Local Authorities

Focus less on what’s going on at the federal level and look to your local and state health authorities. Most parts of the country have only a few confirmed cases of COVID-19, but you can take this time to dive into preparations and planning.

“It’s very important that you and your businesses reach out early to your state and local health department folks so you know who they are and can start planning. A lot of the guidance that we have is focused on getting ready,” Williams says.

Beyond making or renewing contact with local or state health departments, if you’re not already dealing with an outbreak, take the time now to evaluate your policies on employee sick leave and your cleaning protocols.

“The reality is that state and local health departments are where these decisions are going to be made; they’re not made at a federal level. Different places in the country have different and varying regulatory authorities about how aggressive they can be around mandatory closings. Reaching out and understanding these things at a local level is really critical now,” Williams says.

Use This Healthcare-Focused Information

If a staff member or other healthcare personnel (HCP) in your practice is exposed to COVID-19 either on the job or in their personal lives, the CDC has interim recommendations for how to proceed based on the length and severity of the exposure.

Self-monitoring: The HCP should take their temperature twice a day and be on the lookout for fever

and respiratory symptoms. They should have a plan on who to contact if or when any symptoms develop.

• Active monitoring: The local health department or other authority is made responsible for monitoring communication and well-being of the exposed HCP; the healthcare facility’s own infection control specialist can take over this responsibility if the facility and health department agree. The CDC recommends that this communication occurs at least once a day.
• Self-monitoring with delegated supervision: HCP perform self-monitoring of symptoms, with specific plan on what to do if symptoms develop, under the supervision of the facility’s infection control specialist in coordination with the local health authority. This may involve taking temperatures and evaluating potential symptoms each day before the scheduled start of work.

Of course, limiting exposure by encouraging sick employees to stay home is ideal.

Other things you should do: Audit your inventory of personal protective equipment (PPE) and make sure staff know how to use it correctly. Keep communication about COVID-19 open and transparent with both staff and patients. The CDC also recommends screening patients with fever or respiratory symptoms

Williams recommends continuing the routine cleaning methods and materials that your office already uses, as they are sufficient to kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus.