Preparing Healthcare Facilities for COVID-19 Coronavirus

COVID-19 Coronavirus

COVID-19 Coronavirus: Steps for Healthcare Facilities to Prepare from Chicago Healthcare Attorney Michael V. Favia

Medical experts are saying they expect there still may be a spike in positive COVID-19 Coronavirus cases. This being a new pathogen, there is much yet to be learned through research and testing. Meanwhile, your healthcare facility is at risk of being inundated with sick patients with little patience for a lack of ventilators and other medical equipment need to test for and treat their COVID-19 Coronavirus symptoms.

Chicago Healthcare Attorney, Michael V. Favia, works with healthcare professionals licensed by the State of Illinois in IDFPR matters, as well as the other litigation and transactional issues that arise with a healthcare organization and its doctors and staff. Favia is a COVID-19 Coronavirus Chicago IDFPR Attorney people can trust.  

Call Chicago Healthcare Attorney, Michael V. Favia, at the Law Firm of Michael V. Favia & Associates at (312) 609-6666 for More COVID-19 Coronavirus Information and Liability Issues.

The Favia Law Firm wants healthcare professionals and organizational managers and directors to have a plan to handle an increase in patients presenting with influenza, COVID-19, and everything in-between as people are living at a heightened state of concern for their safety during a pandemic outbreak.

World Health Organization COVID-19 Coronavirus Website

Research What You Can Expect with the COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) maintains and frequently updates a Coronavirus (COVID-19) website with resources for healthcare professionals. If you scroll down the home page you find an interactive US map where you can click on individual states to get the latest information. If Chicago area doctors, nurses, and staff click on Illinois, they arrive at the Illinois Department of Public Health (“IDPH”) website where they can learn about local Coronavirus news and updates.

Going by the numbers, medical experts and statisticians update their reasonable expectations and recommendations to stop the virus spread. With information changing so frequently and reliable reports being released, healthcare managers cannot rely on old news.

This CDC Webpage, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Offers Steps Healthcare Facilities Can Take

Favia Law Firm Tips on Communicating with Staff and Patients During the COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak

This CDC Webpage, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Offers Steps Healthcare Facilities Can Take

Summary of the above:

  • Be Prepared
    • Stay informed about the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak
    • Create and bolster your facility emergency plan
    • Create new relationships with healthcare partners in the community and keep in touch
    • Update your emergency contact list and communications plan to share and receive important information
  • Communicate with Staff and Patients
    • Staff communication about the virus and other challenges
    • Patient communication about COVID-19 Coronavirus and other health concerns
  • Protect Your Workforce
    • Screen patience and visitors in your facilities for COVID-19 Coronavirus symptoms
    • Protect your healthcare personnel with proper safety equipment to reduce transmission
    • Inventory and consider strategies to optimize PPE supplies
    • Ask your sick employees to stay at home
  • Protect Your Patients
    • Keep up to date on best ways to manage patients with COVID-19 Coronavirus
    • Separate respiratory symptom patience form other patients seeking care
    • Use telehealth and other strategies to care for patients from their homes.

Chicago Healthcare Attorney Michael V. Favia Wants You to Keep Accurate Records During the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic

During times of uncertainty and when a pandemic has been declared, people get scared and they react and jump quickly. Just like the judgment we see with people hoarding groceries and household items, the same doomsday judgment may affect patients and families. No medical professional wants to respond to complaints by patients and families who are unhappy with their situations and want someone to blame.

Now is the time to document everything you do in diagnosing and treating symptoms. While it may seem excessive, this is an opportunity to help yourself and other healthcare professionals to be the best recordkeepers. You never know, and will often be surprised, which patients decide to sue you for medical malpractice or go after your license.

When you document all the steps you take in treatment and care, and you do that routinely, you are more credible when relying on your records if the need would arise. As a healthcare attorney, it is always easier to represent a credible client who can demonstrate that they are complete and thorough in their practice, every time.

Do Not Ignore the Routine Concerns and Exposures to Liability in Healthcare Service: Anticipate Opportunists

During a time of pandemic and organized panic among the public, the opportunists will strike, hoping to go undetected. Now is not the time to let down your guard in watching out for drug diversion problems and the other common concerns of healthcare managers, doctors, nurses, and staff.

Nursing homes and home health operations can be monitored electronically whenever possible, to check in with elderly and disabled patients in need of medical care and frequent attention. In many areas, the nursing homes are closed during the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak. Many of those facilities could experience changes in staffing and it is reasonable to be concerned about elder care and possibilities of abuse and neglect.

Illinois Doctors, Nurses, and Other Healthcare Professionals and Staff Rely on the Chicago Healthcare Law Firm of Michael V. Favia & Associates During the COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak (312) 609-6666