Leverage These AHA Tools to Enhance Your COVID-19 Response Efforts

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the AHA and its Center for Health Innovation have been diligently compiling resources and tools to help hospitals and health systems optimize performance in care delivery. And now, with COVID-19 cases rising in many parts of the country, we are sharing some of the most frequently accessed reports to help your organization address many challenging aspects of pandemic response.

These resources provide valuable insights and links to other tools that help with modeling and mapping the future spread of COVID-19, caring for vulnerable senior populations, resource planning, optimizing workforce deployment, resuming elective surgeries and other services and more. For access to more resources in this area, visit the AHA COVID-19 resource page.

Organizational Preparedness

COVID-19 Pathways to Recovery (Members only report)

This compendium provides important questions and checklists for hospitals and health systems to consider moving forward in areas like testing and contact tracing, internal and external communications, supply chain, governance considerations and transitions in care.

AHA COVID-19 Digital Pulse

The capabilities addressed in this assessment tool were reported by the AVIA Innovation Network to be the most critical, urgent and effectively supported by digital solutions, including adopting clinical care and adapting operations for COVID-19 as well as improving community coordination during the pandemic.

Communications Checklist: Preparing for and Responding to COVID-19

This SHSMD communications checklist is designed to help you adjust your communications strategies and channels to help keep your internal and external audiences informed and engaged.

Caring for Your Patients

Senior Care Compendium

Adults 65 and older face a greater risk for infection and death from COVID-19. This compendium includes resources from numerous organizations that care for seniors in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living centers, at home and in other settings.

COVID-19 Models: Forecasting the Pandemic’s Spread

This report from the AHA provides an overview of links to models that can help organizations address COVID-19 case projections and capacity planning, community vulnerability mapping and case mapping. The report provides links to 11 COVID-19 models and provides an overview of each tool’s capabilities and the resource’s methodology documentation.

Everyday Innovations for the Management of COVID-19 Patients

As hospitals manage their limited resources to combat the coronavirus pandemic, doctors and nurses are being creative in protecting themselves and their teams. This resource shares insights from Louisville, Ky., nurse anesthetist Samantha Heavrin based on lessons she learned about efficiently managing COVID-19 patients while on assignment in New York at the height of its surge — in areas like optimizing personal protective equipment, leveraging innovative teams and more.

Telehealth and Virtual Care Best Practices

In many cases, telehealth and virtual care can keep people safer at home and out of hospitals, doctors’ offices and urgent care by triaging those who have questions and need medical care, providing access to timely diagnosis and treatment, and monitoring patients with chronic conditions, while also limiting the person-to-person spread of COVID-19.>

Checklist for Discharging Patients with COVID-19

This document guides health care organizations regarding the decision to discontinue transmission-based precautions and discharging hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The checklist can guide the considerations for both actions and aligns with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

Awareness of Social Needs Can Help Address Health Inequity during COVID-19

This resource examines the impact of the social determinants of health on patients and communities as they continue to battle the COVID-19 outbreak and provides ideas and case examples to help hospitals address ongoing social needs.

Enabling Your Workforce

Workforce Considerations in the Transition to Recovery

This resource addresses workforce strategies and redeploying health care workers, supporting the needs of front-line health care workers, general considerations for reopening facilities, resuming nonemergent surgeries, and contact tracing and testing.

Addressing Emotions on the Front Lines

This resource identifies techniques for front-line providers to use when patients are experiencing increased emotion, worry or frustration. Using empathy, active listening and transparency enables hospital staff to provide support for patients and their families, building trusting relationships and defusing conflicts even in times of crisis.

TeamSTEPPS Video Training for the COVID-19 Crisis

High-functioning teams are needed now more than ever. This free video series on the AHA YouTube channel features TeamSTEPPS tools designed to optimize teamwork and communication, two skill sets that are especially needed during the pandemic. Each bite-sized video focuses on one TeamSTEPPS tool and how it can be used in real-life COVID-19 scenarios.

Caring for Our Health Care Heroes During COVID-19

In normal circumstances, working in health care delivery is difficult, stressful and tiring work; COVID-19 makes it especially stressful for front-line caregivers. Here are ways in which hospitals are supporting their workers’ mental health, physical health and housing needs.