A common topic of conversation is when and how will we ever go “back to normal.” As months pass and the country is still very much impacted by COVID-19, it is becoming clear that life as we know it will change.

Thanks to the coronavirus the healthcare industry was hit extremely hard on a variety of levels. Hospital administration and clinical leadership have revised protocols in order to account for slowing down the spread of COVID-19. 

Here are three key areas where the healthcare industry will navigate a new normal, for both patients and providers.

1. Elective vs. Non-Elective Surgeries

In order to prepare for an influx of coronavirus patients, some hospitals revamped entire floors, while others created makeshift treatment facilities. Non-emergent and elective cases were put on hold and created a significant toll on hospital bank accounts. 

The University of Michigan’s health system reopened their elective surgeries, but are uncertain when the hospital will resume to its former capactiy. UM officials say that physicians are measuring the advantages of indivudal surgeries versus the uncertainty of COVID-19. 

2. Keeping Up with PPE

Coronavirus patients and their caretakers don’t automatically have the same PPE needs as other patients. Healthcare officials told ABC News that there is enough of an overlap in basic protective equipment and they are “taking careful note when considering the amount of PPE that would be expended for a particular operation and how much they might need if a resurgence of COVID-19 strikes.”

The president and Chief Executive Officer at the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Helath Systems, Jeffrey Tieman, pointed out that if hospitals aren’t confident in their PPE reserve, they need to consider if they can continue to provide elective surgeries.

Dr. Kat McGraw, CMO at Vermon’t Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, stated that since outpatient surgeries were approved to resume at a state level the hospitals have to “self supply” with PPE.

According to McGraw, the hospital has grown its own PPE arsenal for emergency measures. McGraw reports “We have been purchasing, not through our usual streams, but trying to find creative ways to get an augmented amount of PPE, but its not necessarily sustainable.”

3. Telemedicine & Pre-op Testing

Telemedicine is certainly not a new concept to healthcare, but because of the rapid coronavirus surge using pre-op virtual appointments will likely become another ‘new normal.’

CareMore Health’s Dr. Aleaf Worku states that pre-op meetings will serve as an assessment, i.e. determining what kind of care a patient needs. Doing so would save patients a trip to the facility, and avoid medical personnel from having physical contact with patients. Aleaf explained, “This is why telemedicine may be the way we do pre-op screening in the new normal.”

Virtually monitoring patients with chronic diseases and offering telemedicine will enable improved management, as well as avoiding potential exposure to the virus.

COVID-19 testing before operations take place will also become standard protocol for the indefinite future. Patients who are scheduled for surgery will likely be tested 4-5 days before the operation, and agree to self-isolate during that period. Before the pandemic, most patients are accustomed to a variety of pre-op steps, such as fasting from food and drinking 12 hours before a procedure. COVID-19 testing will be just another step.

With that said, there have been numerous reports that people are cancelling their in-person appointments out of COVID-19 related fears.

An official from Providence Health told ABC News that they completed a 12,000 patient sample survey, and the largest roadblock appears to be a fear of getting COVID in their healthcare facilities. A mere 18% indicated that they “feel safe” going back to the ER, health clinics, or hospitals.

Moving Forward

With heightened safety standards in place, providers and health care facilities are working to improve.

Former president of the American College of Physicians, Robert McLean shared with ABC News, “This is an opportunity to ask, what do we really need to do and what do we need to not do. The pandemic has gotten us back to doctoring. We need to take advantage of that and critically look at the utilization of a lot of things we have done.”

To learn about how COVID-19 is impacting the way in which employees are returning to the workplace, be sure to check out our blog post.

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Employers of all sizes will need to take a long, hard look at their operational practices in order to implement health and safety measures. These practices will need to abide by both the law and safety regulations.

In this blog post, we established some important areas for achieving safety as a part of a pandemic return-to-work strategy. Designing compromises for the workplace, and creating efficiencies, should be a top priority for businesses.

Privacy Protections

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) shared a variety of guidance memos for employers to utilize. A publication titled, “Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and The Americans with Disabilities Act” is meant to help employers implement a game plan for COVID-19 workforce implications. Another EEOC guidance memo says it is acceptable for employers to check the temperatures and conduct examinations to detect the virus in employees returning to work.

However, businesses must keep in mind that federal privacy protections remain intact. If employers do not adequately plan for the privacy repercussions of coming back to work, they may end up facing the court system.

An attorney with the law firm of Graydon Head & Ritchey, Christina N. Rogers, has recommended the following questions for employers to reflect on prior to executing new policies:

• How will the policy be implemented?

• Who will oversee this new policy /procedure?

• How will the individual employee’s privacy be protected?

• What is the probability that other employees will learn the personal health information of that employee?

• How will the employee’s private information be collected, recorded, and stored?

• How will confidentiality be secured?

Virtual Tools and IT Efficiencies

The concept of working remotely via teleconference meetings is not new, but COVID-19 has certainly made it more common than ever before. Even telehealth has been rapidly utilized by healthcare workplaces. For example, during the pandemic, a previously scheduled two-and-a-half-year-old wellness check at a pediatrician’s office is quickly rescheduled for a virtual assessment. In-person visits during the pandemic were reserved for children who are either due for immunizations or suffering from an illness.

For employees who are accustomed to socializing face-to-face in the workplace, it can be quite an adjustment to work solely in a virtual environment. With the help of an employer’s offering virtual social interactions, employees who are working remotely can stay engaged, as well as maintain their level of productivity. In fact, there is research that shows working from home increases productivity.

In a virtual workplace, IT becomes even more essential to a company’s success. The technology and its infrastructure is the baseline for how efficient their business will operate. Employees are accustomed to leaning on their IT department when a password needs to be reset, or a computer becomes disconnected from the company’s internal system. These same IT members are also responsible for creating and managing tools that will allow virtual workers to be set up for success.

IT security should also be a priority for employers, as working remotely has its own set of challenges. New policies may need to be written and implemented, and possibly gathering IT tools and software to ensure employees are set-up to succeed, much less delivering quality work.

Additional Workplace Considerations

Businesses typically have protocols in place to prepare for catastrophic events such as earthquakes, fire and hurricanes, but seemingly no one was truly prepared for how COVID-19 would wreak havoc on the economy and companies’ day-to-day operations.

Here are some additional considerations for the ‘new normal’ in business operations:

• When deciding which employees should return to the workplace, the determination should be based on true necessity versus employees’ classifications (e.g. age) which are protected under civil rights law.
• A staggered return to the office could include designating groups of employees who take turns- i.e one group physically works out of the office while another group of workers continues to do business remotely.
• The physical workspace needs to be analyzed, prior to employees coming back, for social distancing guidelines. Six feet of distance should be enforced between desks and workspaces, as well as marked lines among common areas including break rooms and community meeting rooms.
• For shift workers, in compliance with state law requirements, adjust meals, and rest break times in order to minimize large group overlaps.
• Ensure that the office provides PPE (e.g. gloves, masks, etc. ), stations with soap and disinfectant wipes, and plenty of hand sanitizer.
• Create a strict schedule for consistent cleaning in the heavily trafficked area, and in shared workspaces/

Stay tuned for our upcoming Auxo Medical blog post later this month — we’ll discuss what the ‘new normal’ may look like for our country’s healthcare industry.

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