Nursing Home COVID-19 ECHO

Nursing Home COVID-19 ECHO

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Indiana Nursing Home COVID-19 Action Network (NNHCAN) ECHO!

This special ECHO program is geared specifically for nursing home leadership to build capacity related to COVID-19 and protect residents and staff.

Nursing facilities joining the interactive community of practice will work to advance improvements in COVID-19 preparedness, safety, and infection control. Sites will be eligible for $6,000 in compensation for your time and efforts.

Indiana’s NNHCAN ECHO will launch the week of November 9, with space for 120 sites. The program will include 16 weekly sessions designed specifically to assist with your most pressing COVID-related needs.

Goals

Our goal is to help nursing homes implement evidence-based best practices to:

  • Keep the virus from entering nursing homes where it has not entered
  • Identify residents and staff who have been infected with the virus early
  • Prevent the spread of the virus between staff, residents, and visitors
  • Provide safe and appropriate care to residents with mild and asymptomatic cases of the virus
  • Ensure staff have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to implement best-practice safety measures to protect residents and themselves
  • Reduce social isolation for residents, families, and staff during these difficult times

Approach

This initiative will operate as a 16-week interactive virtual community of practice utilizing the ECHO model, that to learn complex ideas, guided mentorship is needed in an “all teach, all learn” environment. The weekly sessions are designed to create space to hear directly from nursing home staff about the challenges they are facing through discussion of real cases. All participants are encouraged to share best practices and learn from their peers – while benefiting from the guidance of nursing home and quality improvement experts. Each session will include a short lecture combined with case-based presentations and discussion.

Nursing homes will participate in a 16-week training and mentorship program in groups of 33-35 facilitated by a local training center.

  • The program will use a standardized curriculum developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, but each training program will evolve to meet the needs of the local nursing home community.
  • The curriculum will be updated weekly to reflect new evidence, innovations in best practices, and changes in the pandemic.
  • The IUPUI ECHO Center will cultivate a virtual community of practice among nursing homes to foster peer-to-peer learning and provide additional mentorship.
  • The IUPUI ECHO Center will also provide rapid response mentorship for any nursing home that experiences a sudden increase in COVID-19.

The IUPUI ECHO Center and training centers will provide participating nursing homes with access to national and local experts in infection control, patient safety, quality improvement, and nursing home operations along with a library of implementation resources. The library will help nursing homes implement COVID-19 safety practices and include resources such as “how to” guides on helping nursing home residents with mobility impairments wear masks and translation of staff training materials and resident/family education materials into Spanish and other languages.

No, nursing homes are not required or mandated to participate.

  • Nursing home staff and professionals are dedicated to providing high-quality, safe care for the residents in their facilities. COVID-19 is a new and challenging virus that effects both residents and staff. Participating in the Network provides nursing homes with practical, useful information, skills, and resources. It also connects them to a virtual learning community of both specialists and their peers to ask and answer immediate challenges.
  • Participation is free.
  • Nursing homes that actively participate in the 16-week training will receive $6,000 in compensation in recognition of the staff time involved. This reimbursement is available to Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing homes eligible to receiving funding from the Provider Relief Fund and that have agreed to its terms and conditions. The vast majority of nursing homes are eligible.

Both Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing homes are eligible to participate.

The first several weeks of the training program include sessions on:

  • Personal Protective Equipment Best Practices for COVID-19
  • Making the Environment Safe during COVID-19 Through Infection Control Practices
  • Minimizing the Spread of COVID-19
  • COVID-19 Testing
  • Clinical Management of Asymptomatic and Mild Cases of COVID-19
  • Managing Social Isolation during COVID-19

Partners

  • Regenstrief Institute
  • IU School of Medicine
  • Parkview Hospital
  • University of Indianapolis Center for Aging & Community
  • University of Southern Indiana