Rapid Reorganization of an Academic Infectious Diseases Program During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic in Detroit: A Novel Unit-based Group Rounding Model

• Published in: Clinical infectious diseases Vol. 72; no. 6; pp. 1074 - 1080
• Main Authors: Vahia, Amit T, Chaudhry, Zohra S, Kaljee, Linda, Parraga-Acosta, Tommy, Gudipati, Smitha, Maki, Gina, Tariq, Zain, Shallal, Anita, Nauriyal, Varidhi, Williams, Jonathan D, Suleyman, Geehan, Abreu-Lanfranco, Odaliz, Chen, Anne, Yared, Nicholas, Herc, Erica, McKinnon, John E, Brar, Indira, Bhargava, Pallavi, Zervos, Marcus, Ramesh, Mayur, Alangaden, George
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 15.03.2021
• Subjects: Communicable Diseases; COVID-19; Humans; Pandemics; Referral and Consultation; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Detroit; medical education; epidemic response; unit-based consultation
• ISSN: 1058-4838; 1537-6591; 1537-6591
• DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciaa903

The surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalizations at our 877-bed quaternary care hospital in Detroit led to an emergent demand for Infectious Diseases (ID) consultations. The traditional 1-on-1 consultation model was untenable. Therefore, we rapidly restructured our ID division to provide effective consultative services. We implemented a novel unit-based group rounds model that focused on delivering key updates to teams and providing unit-wide consultations simultaneously to all team members. Effectiveness of the program was studied using Likert-scale survey data. The survey captured data from the first month of the Detroit COVID-19 pandemic. During this period there were approximately 950 patients hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19. The survey of trainees and faculty reported an overall 95% positive response to delivery of information, new knowledge acquisition, and provider confidence in the care of COVID-19 patients. This showed that the unit-based consult model is a sustainable effort to provide care during epidemics.