J Am Board Fam Med
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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak poses serious health risks, particularly for older adults and persons with underlying chronic medical conditions. Community health centers (CHCs) serve as the patient medical home for populations that are disproportionately more susceptible to COVID-19; yet, there is a lack of understanding of current efforts in place by CHCs to prepare for and respond to the pandemic. ⋯ The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated long-standing CHC capacity issues making it challenging for them to adequately respond to the outbreak. Policies promoting greater investment in CHCs may strengthen them to better meet the needs of the most vulnerable members of society, and thereby help flatten the curve.
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The University of Colorado family medicine residency watched along with the rest of the nation as the first cases of COVID-19 were being reported in the United States in March 2020. Concern grew as epidemiological models began to predict alarming hospital bed shortages for the state. Massive scheduling adjustments were needed as faculty and residents found themselves in groups at high risk for severe COVID-19 and residents found themselves dismissed from nonessential learning experiences in an effort to conserve personal protective equipment and limit exposures. ⋯ Phase 1 assumed business as usual with increased layers of backup for both residents and faculty. Phase 2 redistributed unassigned residents and inpatient faculty to increase capacity for adult medicine and COVID-19 patients on our essential services. Lessons learned from these surge efforts may help inform similar decisions being made by other residency programs presently and in the future.
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Despite first trimester abortion being common and safe, there are numerousrestrictions that lead to barriers to seeking abortion care. The COVID-19 pandemic hasonly exacerbated these barriers, as many state legislators push to limit abortion accesseven further. ⋯ Medication abortion can be offered to patients by telemedicine in most states, andmultiple studies have shown that labs, imaging, and physical exam may not beessential in all cases. Family physicians are well-poised to incorporate medicationabortion into their practices using approaches that limit the spread of the coronavirus,ultimately increasing access to abortion in these unprecedented times.
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Examine use of office resources by primary care patients who were initially evaluated through telehealth, telephone, or in-person encounters. ⋯ Primary care providers used virtual visits to care for most patients presenting with potential COVID-19 symptoms, with many patients choosing telephone over telehealth visits. Virtual visits can successfully limit patient exposure to other people, and consideration could be given to increasing its use for patients with potential symptoms of COVID-19.
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To date, there are no effective treatments for decreasing hospitalizations in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections. It has been suggested that the influenza vaccine might attenuate the severity of COVID-19. ⋯ Our analysis suggests that the influenza vaccination is potentially protective of moderate and severe cases of COVID-19 infection. This protective effect holds regardless of comorbidity. The literature points to a potential mechanism via natural killer cell activation. Though our data potentially is limited by its generalizability and our vaccination rate is low, it holds significant relevance given the upcoming influenza season. Not only could simply encouraging influenza vaccination decrease morbidity and mortality from the flu, but it might help flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic as well. We encourage further studies into this finding.