Adapting Primary Care to COVID-19: The In’s and Out’s of Magenta Health’s Approach
Written by Jeremy Rosh and Nishila Mehta
Click here to jump directly to the live document.
Background
Primary care clinics in Ontario, Canada, and worldwide are rapidly adapting to the challenges posed by COVID-19. This new care environment is not unique to any one clinic and there has been a widespread response from the medical community in sharing best practices. While many guidance documents have been created and shared, we feel there isn’t yet a comprehensive resource diving into the details to say “okay, this is what we are doing and what’s working.”
The team at Magenta Health (MHI), a network of three primary care clinics in Toronto, has agreed to share their new or significantly modified processes and protocols that have been put in place specifically in response to COVID-19.
What is this document?
This live document has been compiled by us, medical students at the University of Toronto, from internal MHI documentation, with their assistance and review. It is being published as a detailed operational manual that includes the “nitty gritty” details of implementation. Primary care providers may share and use it freely as a resource as they adapt to COVID-19. It is meant to promote collaboration amongst the primary care community, and to expand on existing guidance.
The document dives into the #VirtualFirst approach, in which all initial appointments are conducted via phone or video, and only if absolutely necessary, are patients seen in clinic. Naturally, this raises questions such as what type of visits warrant in-person care, physician scheduling, best practices for virtual care, and more. Our document offers a detailed look into how Magenta Health is navigating these challenges.
Also included is information on how in-person clinics have been adapted. Key topics include workflows to protect staff, physicians, and patients, and procedures to minimize the usage of Personal Protective Equipment, to screen patients, and to streamline the virtual to in-person transition.
How do I use it?
Comments are enabled in the Google Document and we (and some of the Magenta Health team) will be working in real time to integrate comments, suggestions, and best practices from our primary care colleagues. Our hope is that together we can create a living document that is informative for the care community and nimble like our current situation.
Click here to access our live document.
About the Authors
Jeremy Rosh is a first year MD student at the University of Toronto and has a background in healthcare consulting and digital health.
Nishila Mehta is a second year MD/MSc student at the University of Toronto with a background in health research & quality improvement.
