Response of the HealthCare Systems to the Pandemic

ABSTRACT

This chapter covers the rapid clinical changes undertaken at the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) in Detroit, Michigan in response to the surge of patients admitted to the five HFHS hospitals as representative of changes made at health systems across the United States and globally. The chapter discusses changes undertaken to maintain surge capacity use of an incident command center to coordinate a total focus on providing sufficient inpatient services for COVID-19 patients by the expansion of beds and redeployment of personnel along with an almost overnight switch to telemedicine care for outpatients to keep them safe by sheltering at home. The impact of these changes on health-care finances is discussed. Finally, the importance of communication by use of daily phone and video conferencing team huddle calls to inform the team of almost daily strategic changes, obtain reports from frontline providers, and to convey words of support and options for emotional and psychological support for caregivers who might be feeling distressed. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.