NASEM Webinar Recording: Keeping Nursing Home Residents and Staff Safe in the Era of COVID-19 - Effective Testing and Cohorting to Minimize Risk of Transmission
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) held a webinar on June 2, "Keeping Nursing Home Residents and Staff Safe in the Era of COVID-19: Effective Testing and Cohorting to Minimize Risk of Transmission."
Nursing home residents make up less than one-half of one percent of the U.S. population, but represent approximately 27 percent of COVID-19 related deaths to date according to one recent estimate. Safeguarding frail, vulnerable nursing home patients, who tend to have multiple chronic conditions--and the health care professionals who care for them—is a very difficult, but surmountable challenge amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
On April 22, 2020, the NASEM hosted a webinar on keeping nursing home residents and staff safe in the era of COVID-19, highlighting the innovative approaches to address these complex challenges that are currently being implemented in the state of Maryland; building on the first webinar, this second webinar:
- Explored the challenges to—and appreciated the urgency of—effective cohorting of nursing home residents during the COVID-19 outbreak to prevent virus transmission;
- Discussed the design and implementation of an actionable cohorting strategy based on CDC Guidance;
- Examined approaches to mitigate risk associated with new admissions, readmissions and residents who must routinely leave the nursing home or long-term care facility for medical appointments.
Speakers included:
- Caitlin Pedati, MD, MPH, FAAP, State Medical Director and Epidemiologist, Iowa Department of Public Health
- Jeff Engel, MD, Senior Adviser for COVID-19, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
- Richard A. Feifer, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, and President of Genesis Physician Services, Genesis HealthCare
- Arif Nazir, MD, MPH, FACP, Chief Medical Officer, Signature Healthcare, President, SHC Medical Partners
- Moderator: JoAnne Reifsnyder, PhD, MBA, MSN, FAAN, Executive Vice President, Clinical Operations, Chief Nursing Officer, Genesis HealthCare
To watch the webinar recording and to access the webinar materials, click here.
