A Patient-Centered Environmental Scan of Inpatient Visitor Policies During the COVID-19 Pandemic

James D Harrison; Rachel Weiss; Nila S Radhakrishnan; Catherine Hanson; Martha B Carnie; Patricia Evans; Jim Banta; Gina Symczak; Georgiann Ziegler; D'Anna Holmes; Safia J Michel-Leconte; Beverly Rogers; Melissa Wurst; Jacqueline Alikhaani; Clark Davis; Tiffany Lee; Jeffrey L Schnipper; Andrew D Auerbach; John Romond

doi:10.1177/23743735211049646

A Patient-Centered Environmental Scan of Inpatient Visitor Policies During the COVID-19 Pandemic

J Patient Exp. 2021 Oct 20:8:23743735211049646. doi: 10.1177/23743735211049646. eCollection 2021.

Authors

James D Harrison¹, Rachel Weiss², Nila S Radhakrishnan³, Catherine Hanson^{4

5}, Martha B Carnie^{5

6}, Patricia Evans⁵, Jim Banta⁵, Gina Symczak⁵, Georgiann Ziegler⁵, D'Anna Holmes^{5

7}, Safia J Michel-Leconte^{4

5}, Beverly Rogers⁵, Melissa Wurst⁵, Jacqueline Alikhaani⁵, Clark Davis⁸, Tiffany Lee¹, Jeffrey L Schnipper⁸, Andrew D Auerbach¹, John Romond⁹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Hospital Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
² Department of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
³ University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL, USA.
⁴ Office of Patient Experience, University of Miami Health System, Miami, FL, USA.
⁵ Hospital Medicine Reengineering Network (HOMERuN) Patient & Family Advisory Council (PFAC), San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁶ Center for Patient & Families, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
⁷ Astellas Pharma Inc, Northbrook, IL, USA.
⁸ Brigham Health Hospital Medicine Unit, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁹ University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY, USA.

Abstract

Researchers and patients conducted an environmental scan of policy documents and public-facing websites and abstracted data to describe COVID-19 adult inpatient visitor restrictions at 70 academic medical centers. We identified variations in how centers described and operationalized visitor policies. Then, we used the nominal group technique process to identify patient-centered information gaps in visitor policies and provide key recommendations for improvement. Recommendations were categorized into the following domains: 1) provision of comprehensive, consistent, and clear information; 2) accessible information for patients with limited English proficiency and health literacy; 3) COVID-19 related considerations; and 4) care team member methods of communication.

Keywords: COVID-19; communication; patient perspectives/narratives; quality improvement.