The Nov. 23 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine published an observational study that concluded that hyperglycemia (blood sugar level) independently predicted progression from noncritical to critical condition and death, regardless of prior Diabetes history, among more than 11,000 patients with confirmed COVID-19, from 109 hospitals in Spain. This study informs how people admitted to a hospital even with mild hyperglycemia should be treated. Since it examines outcome by admission blood sugar level it eliminates the effect of any inpatient treatment.
100+ medical funding sources; click or call. Plus, direct links to search for prescription drug assistance program listed on Medicare’s website, and for every State.
One of the very best resources of free help and financial assistance in the U.S. Get help navigating your health insurance, accessing treatments, appealing insurance denials, and connecting to care through the Patient Advocate Foundation, or call 800-532-5274. Go to https://apatientsplace.wordpress.com/help-guidance/ for hundreds of links to free help with your healthcare.
If your
communities are like most others you have fewer visitors and your residents are
not able to get out into the community as they could just a short while ago.
This can cause people to feel a little isolated and lonely. The decrease in
interaction with others can also impact your residents’ health.
GPS-based geofencing can connect your residents to their community and neighbors
Here’s just one
creative strategy to fight back and help keep your staff and residents
connected to your community and neighbors no matter how long limited visitation
and contact with others outside your community are required.
Here are the
steps…
Using your CRM or other marketing
tools identify the neighborhoods where your current residents used to live. Identify
the areas where there is a higher concentration and make a note of the
addresses. If that’s too difficult pick a few areas within a few miles of your
community to start.
With any resident who is interested,
take their photo and/or produce a short video (30 seconds or less) telling
people what they’re doing and that they would love to hear from their neighbors
in the community how their families are doing.
Using the photos and videos of your residents,
and/or staff if your residents are reluctant, build digital advertisements for
your geofencing campaign.
Your community’s advertisements can
be as simple as a photo and a call to action (CTA). CTA’s should state the
action that you want the reader to take. For example, “click to tell me how
your family’s doing” or “Click here to share your day and photo with me and my
friends at AAA Retirement Community.” There are numerous geofencing providers.
AdRoll is a leader in the space and a good choice for novices. Expect to pay
about $20 to $25 per thousand digital advertisements sent to the homes and
businesses you target, and a few hundred dollars more to develop the
advertisements you’ll need to run the campaign.
Set up a new landing page on your
website so people can click on your advertisements and share their thoughts,
photos, and videos with your residents. The website landing page should have
minimal content with clear and simple step-by-step instructions on how to share
text, photo, and/or video replies.
Share
the replies with your residents and staff via email and print them so they can
be shared on a wall or bulletin board in a very visible place in your
community.
Using
technology to connect to others is an effective and low-cost way to counteract
some of the challenges people are facing when combatting loneliness and
isolation. In the future, I’ll share some very creative ways that video
technology is being used to connect people in senior living communities of all
sizes and care levels to their friends and families.
If you need
any help or additional information on setting up a geofencing program let me
know. To request a demo of how integrated CRM marketing technology drives
occupancy increases click here.
Thank you to Bill Frist, MD for sharing highlights of his conversation with three top Chinese physicians leading the Coronavirus response in China.
I’ll summarize here. However, consider watching the video shared by Dr. Frist on LinkedIn.
Lessons learned;
1. Early control of local transmission depends on rapid diagnosis and hospitalization of those with the disease. Failure to do this results in a spike in local cases.
2. Disciplined social distancing allowed for a peaking of cases in Wuhan within 10 days after first being reported. The number of new cases remained elevated for 6 days, followed by a rapid fall in reported new cases.
3. The most common feature of serious infection appeared to be fever, which was present in 98.6% of pneumonia cases reported in Wuhan. Other common symptoms included fatigue, dry cough, and muscle soreness.
4. Viral load, the measure of the virus present in the blood stream, had a direct impact on the severity of the disease.
5. COVID-19 was confirmed with two positive PCR performed one after the other.
6. Chest x-rays and CT scans were not precise in identifying COVID-19.
7. The main incubation periods, the average time from initial infection to onset of infection, in China was about 6 1/2 days.
8. No anti-viral drug has been proven effective against COVID-19. That said, trials are underway on Lopinavir, Retonavir, Remdisivir.
I encourage you to listen to the entire video on LinkedIn.
If you would like to get regular updates on COVID-19 from the CDC click here, and complete the form in the left column in the middle of the page.
If you would like to learn about the Clinical Management and Treatment click here.
The Interim Guidance for Healthcare Facilities from the CDC to prepare for community transmission can be found by clicking here. Senior housing communities would be well advised to follow these Guidelines as well.
The following symptoms often appear 2 – 14 days after exposure to Coronavirus (COVID-19); fever, cough, shortness of breath.
To get tested call your doctor. At this point, due to the shortness of tests, most states still require a doctor’s order to get tested.
Steps for Prevention
Stay home except for medical care, and avoid public areas and transportation.
As much as possible, separate yourself from other people and animals in your home. If you have contact with others or pets in your home wash your hands before and after contact and wear a face mask if possible.
Click here for additional information on preventing the spread of Coronavirus Disease in Homes and Residential Communities.
If you would like to learn how Coronavirus spreads click here.
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