Rapid Reorganization of an Academic Infectious Diseases Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Detroit: A Novel Unit-Based Group Rounding Model

Vahia, Amit; Chaudhry, Zohra S; Kaljee, Linda; Parraga-Acosta, Tommy; Gudipati, Smitha; Maki, Gina; Tariq, Zain; Shallal, Anita; Nauriyal, Varidhi; Williams, Jonathan D; Suleyman, Geehan; Abreu-Lanfranco, Odaliz; Chen, Anne; Yared, Nicholas; Herc, Erica; McKinnon, John E; Brar, Indira; Bhargava, Pallavi; Zervos, Marcus; Ramesh, Mayur; Alangaden, George

The surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalizations at our 877-bed quaternary care hospital in Detroit led to an emergent demand for Infectious Diseases (ID) consultations. The traditional one-on-one consultation model was untenable. Therefore, we rapidly restructured our ID division to provide effective consultative services. We implemented a novel unit-based group rounds model that focused on delivering key updates to teams and providing unit-wide consultations simultaneously to all team members. Effectiveness of the program was studied using Likert-scale survey data. The survey captured data from the first month of the Detroit COVID-19 pandemic. During this period there were approximately 950 patients hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19. The survey of trainees and faculty reported an overall 95% positive response to delivery of information, new knowledge acquisition, and provider confidence in the care of COVID-19 patients. This showed that the unit-based consult model is a sustainable effort to provide care during epidemics.