On Monday, March 9, 2020, three cases of COVID-19 had been diagnosed in Cuyahoga County. Four days later, after a marathon effort, the COVID-19 Hotline was launched on Friday, March 13, at 11:00 a.m., through a safety net healthcare system, MetroHealth. This “one-stop,” 24/7 support line is designed to assist callers with anything COVID-19-related. It is staffed by both physicians and nurses – around the clock – taking calls from residents of Northeast Ohio who are concerned that their symptoms may be indicative of COVID-19. Based on the patient’s described symptoms and how they sound over the phone, the physician provides care and reassurance to all and one of several pathways.
On Friday, March 13th, the physicians performed 36 telehealth visits; just a few days later, on Tuesday March 17th, the physicians performed 279 telehealth visits. As of August 21, the physicians have performed a total of 14,735 telehealth visits on the hotline. Operationalizing the Hotline took a team of more than 70 employees, including staff from informatics, the network service center, marketing, finance, population health, and revenue cycle, plus physicians and nurses, working long days as the pandemic emerged. In this session, we will present the ingredients and ongoing maintenance that have contributed to the success of this program to date.
CEU Available: 1.0 CME; 1.0 MOC
CEU Expires: April 30, 2024
To receive CME/MOC credit, you must (a) watch the video and (b) complete the short assessment. After these two steps are completed, you will receive a certificate.
