How USACS Reacted to COVID-19

We prioritized state-of-the-art patient care

• We provided clinical updates three times a week to educate our clinicians on the latest evidence-based management techniques during a time of ultra-rapid knowledge development.
• We created our nationwide COVID Task Force to quickly disseminate best practices nationally.
• We instituted frequent, clear, and concise communication to reduce information overload and to minimize misinformation.
• We created a clinical management tool to facilitate appropriate disposition for COVID patients.
• We created a first-in-the-industry ventilator allocation guideline, leveraging our ethics expertise.
• We provided educational points for clinicians to educate non-medical community members in their personal social media networks.

We prioritized the safety and needs of our clinicians

• We sourced our own national PPE backup supplies to mitigate local shortages.
• We developed a state-of-the-art N95 sterilization technique and shared this with our hospital partners.
• We created on-shift support for decontamination methods.
• We created the first-in-the-industry quarantine fund to pay clinicians for lost time.
• We maintained benefits (including our marquee 401k plan) for our clinicians and employees throughout.
• We distributed wellness resources for our clinicians and their families.
• We created a communication aid for clinicians to facilitate travel to their hospitals without delays.
• We offered first-in-the-industry free antibody testing to all clinicians and employees.

We prioritized the needs of our hospital partners

• We built surge ICU and hospital medicine processes and protocols, pre-ED triage tents, pop-up acute care settings, and even new hospital relationships.
• We supported telemedicine initiatives for hospitals, resulting in new patients being brought into the hospital system for appropriate care.
• We hosted webinars for hospital partners to coordinate an informed COVID response with best practices by leveraging our national footprint of 200+ acute care sites.
• We developed a clinical management tool to assign hospital observation, transfer, and inpatient admission.
• We created guidelines for a COVIDSafe Emergency Department, easing patient concerns about viral transmission and continuing to provide our trademark high-quality care for serious acute conditions.