Member Frontline Tactics

While Americans are called to socially distance themselves, AMGA believes connectedness is the U.S. healthcare community’s key to prevailing over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. To promote sharing of resources, tactics, and best practices by frontline health providers, AMGA has compiled a selection of operational, clinical management, and administrative guidelines, lessons learned, and tools used by AMGA member medical groups and health systems. Included is guidance specifically for leadership roles responding to COVID-19, including CEOs, CMOs, CFOs, COOs, and HR professionals.

Clinical Issues

Clinical Guidelines for Ambulatory Assessment: CEO Council Discussion Summary (March 24, 2020)
Council members share approaches to detailed service scripting and clinical guidelines on the approach to ambulatory assessment of influenza-like illness, including patient and employee testing, education, telehealth, and pandemic response centers
Clinic Consolidation and Patient Triage: CMO Council Discussion Summary (March 24, 2020)
Council members share approaches to consolidating primary care clinics, triage, and respiratory clinics
Clinical Overstaffing Approaches for COVID-19: CMO Council Discussion Summary (March 24, 2020)
Council members share approaches to overstaffing including staff rotation, redeployment, shifting to telehealth, new roles for physicians, and compensation adjustments
APP Deployment for COVID-19: CMO Council Discussion Summary (March 22, 2020)
Council members share approaches to the deployment of vulnerable APPs during the pandemic
Testing Procedures for COVID-19: CMO Council Presentation and Discussion Summary (March 20, 2020)
Crystal Run Healthcare Chief Transformation Officer Dr. Jonathan Nasser shares strategies for testing for COVID-19, including creating outside evaluation centers, workflows for evaluation and labs, supplies, and drive-in clinics
- Crystal Run Healthcare Evaluation Workflow
- Crystal Run Healthcare Patient Information Sheet for Testing
Handling Clinical Staff with URI Symptoms but No Known Exposure CMO Council Discussion Summary (March 18, 2020)
Council members share how they’re handling staff (doctors and clinical staff) with URI symptoms without known exposure, including testing and quarantine.
Staffing and Clinical Teams for COVID-19: CMO Council Discussion Summary (March 18, 2020)
Council members share approaches to staffing and office teams
New Procedures for Managing Patients and Providers in Response to Coronavirus: CMO Council Discussion Summary (March 17, 2020)
Council members share how they’re addressing triage, patient management, telephone visits, and provider compensation issues

Operations

AMGA: Physician Compensation Considerations amid the COVID-19 Pandemic (March 27, 2020)
AMGA Consulting provides practical operational responses to the impact of the virus on provider compensation and staffing, including scenarios where revisions to compensation models may be appropriate.
Operations: Protocols and best practices for addressing COVID-19 in the hospital setting (March 26, 2020)
The EvergreenHealth Hospitalist group in Washington state offers critical early lessons learned from managing many of the first COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the U.S.
Operations: Staying Open as COVID-19 Nears Peak: CEO Council Presentation Summary (March 25, 2020)
Anthony Viceroy, CEO, Westmed Medical Group, shares how his group is navigating the pandemic as it reaches peak stage in their area, including leadership, inventory management, staffing, vendor relations, employee wellness and deployment, and compensation
Operations: Shifting HR Policies During the COVID-19 Pandemic Presentation to CHRO Council (March 25, 2020)
Leaders from Crystal Run Healthcare share how they are shifting HR policies as they move to the acute hospital phase of their response, including hospital surge planning, testing, communications, employee health, staff reduction, compliance with changing laws, pay policies, credentialing, benefits, workers comp, and expenses in labor and materials.
Playbook: Expanding ICU and Medical/Surgical/Telemetry Capacity, Kaiser Permanente Northern California (March 24, 2020)
AMGA: COVID-19: Immediate Action Steps from the Front Lines (March 20, 2020)
Members give some tips for what they are doing and what you should be doing
Operations: CAO/COO Planning for COVID-19 Presentation to CAO/COO Council (March 20, 2020)
The Polyclinic COO Anita Geving shares how her organization is dealing with screening, segregation, PPE and supply shortages, testing challenges, telehealth, and staffing and access during the onset of COVID-19
Playbook: Viral Control Mitigation Phase, Kaiser Permanente Northern California (March 18, 2020)
Operations: Provider Compensation Approaches to COVID-19 CFO Council Discussion Summary (March 18, 2020)
Council members share strategies for provider compensation (both salaried/guaranteed and productivity-based) as elective procedures are cancelled, departments close, and schedules are cleared during COVID-19
Human Resources: Coronavirus Impact on HR Policies: CHRO Council Discussion Summary (March 18, 2020)
Council members share policies for pay, leave, and child care for employees affected by COVID-19
Operations: CEO Planning for COVID-19 Presentation to CEO Council (March 17, 2020)
Sutter Health leaders share how different parts of their organization are addressing the COVID pandemic, including communications strategies and decision-making, segregating providers who have had contact with the virus and quarantine, PPE management, staff reassignment, triage, telehealth, rescheduling appointments, child care, lab backlogs, and provider compensation
Operations: New Procedures in Response to Coronavirus: CAO/COO Council Discussion Summary (March 14, 2020)
Council members share new procedures for responding to COVID-19

Patient, Provider Communications and Resources

Specific Guidance

Lehigh Valley Network: #ShaveAgainstCovid (Safe use of N-95 Masks, March 22, 2018)
Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic: Sewing Masks for Donations (March 20, 2020)
Intermountain Health Care Clinical Guidance:
- Inpatient Care Process/High Risk Viral Outbreak Diseases (March 13, 2020)
- COVID-19 Clinical Features (March 26, 2020)
- COVID-19 GI Presentation and Guidelines (March 26, 2020)
- Diagnostic Testing: Steps for COVID-19 (March 16, 2020)
- ED/Clinical Care Process/High Risk Viral Outbreak Diseases (March 5, 2020)
Lehigh Valley Health System: FAQ: “If You or Someone in Your Family Is Sick with COVID-19” (March 18, 2020)
Massachusetts General Hospital COVID-19 Treatment Guidance (March 17, 2020)

Tools

Advocate Aurora Health: COVID-19 Symptom Checker (Online patient evaluation tool)
Atlantic Health System: Risk Assessment Tool for Patients
Penn Highlands Physician Network: Penn Medicine Digital Tool for Hospital Capacity Planning (March 18, 2020)

If you have any contributions to share or want to suggest a topic area, please contact AMGA.