Lieneck Cristian, Ramamonjiarivelo Zo, Cox Jennifer, Dominguez Jack, Gersbach Kendal, Heredia Edward, Khan Afroza
School of Health Administration, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA.
St. David's School of Nursing, Texas State University, Round Rock, TX 78665, USA.
Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Oct 30;9(11):1474. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9111474.
Ambulatory (outpatient) health care organizations continue to respond to the COVID-19 global pandemic using an array of initiatives to provide a continuity of care for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. The purpose of this study is to systematically identify the facilitators and barriers experienced by outpatient health care organizations in an effort to maintain effective and efficient patient throughput during the pandemic.
This study systematically reviewed articles focused on initiatives taken by ambulatory care organizations to maintain optimal outpatient throughput levels while balancing pandemic precautions, published during 2020.
Among the 30 articles that met the inclusion criteria, three initiatives healthcare organizations have taken to maintain throughput were identified: the use (and enhanced use) of telehealth, protocol development, and health care provider training. The research team also identified three barriers to patient throughput: lack of telehealth, lack of resources, and overall lack of knowledge.
To maintain patient throughput during the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare organizations need to develop strategies such as the use of virtual consultation and follow-up, new guidelines to move patients along the care delivery value-chain, and ongoing training of providers. Additionally, the availability of required technology for telehealth, availability of resources, and adequate knowledge are vital for continuous patient throughput to ensure continuity of care during a pandemic.
门诊医疗保健机构继续采取一系列举措应对新冠疫情，以为新冠患者和非新冠患者提供持续护理。本研究旨在系统地识别门诊医疗保健机构在疫情期间维持有效且高效的患者流量时所面临的促进因素和障碍。
本研究系统回顾了2020年发表的聚焦于门诊护理机构为在平衡疫情预防措施的同时维持最佳门诊流量水平而采取的举措的文章。
在符合纳入标准的30篇文章中，确定了医疗保健机构为维持流量所采取的三项举措：远程医疗的使用（及强化使用）、方案制定以及医护人员培训。研究团队还确定了患者流量的三个障碍：缺乏远程医疗、缺乏资源以及整体知识不足。
为在新冠疫情期间维持患者流量，医疗保健机构需要制定策略，如使用虚拟咨询和随访、制定新指南以推动患者在护理交付价值链上的流转，以及持续对医护人员进行培训。此外，远程医疗所需技术的可用性、资源的可用性以及充足的知识对于持续的患者流量至关重要，以确保疫情期间护理的连续性。
