COVID ambassador program helps ailing patients reconnect with family during quarantine

Following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) has released recommendations to help organizations safely navigate the evolving stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on steps to identify, isolate, and inform.

SDOH factors such as food security and housing play a pivotal role in the health of individuals and populations. A landmark 2016 study published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that socioeconomic factors, health behaviors, and the physical environment account for determining more than 80% of health outcomes, with clinical care accounting for only 16% of health outcomes.

Missing contact information on COVID-19 laboratory results prevents individuals with positive test results from quickly receiving needed treatment. It also heightens the risk that others will be exposed to the coronavirus. Yet this exact problem has played out repeatedly in 2020. Up to half of COVID-19 lab tests are missing critical contact information such as addresses or telephone numbers, a Duke University study found. Some public health experts say the number could be as high as 80% of test results.

DNV GL Healthcare will conduct full, deemed reaccreditation surveys remotely, under certain conditions approved by CMS. Other accreditation organizations (AO) are declining to do so. But CMS says virtual survey processes will be allowed only during the current public health emergency (PHE). And once it is over, healthcare organizations will be held accountable for all accreditation concerns.

In general, the conditions set by CMS include that the hospital must be located in an area where the safety threat level from the COVID-19 PHE is still high or medium, have had few or no infection control deficiencies during its last two surveys, have no condition-level deficiencies or immediate jeopardy situations, and have no outstanding ligature risk problems.

Staff who otherwise would have been furloughed were instead trained on COVID-19 safety and virtual communication programs. Their job was to set up and facilitate virtual visits between patients and their loved ones. Ambassadors would stay in the patient’s room during the call, providing physical, technical, or emotional assistance as needed. These visits gave isolated patients the chance to celebrate birthdays, meet new children, and catch up with their loved ones. In many cases, these virtual visits were the last chance for patients and families to speak with each other.