May 18: DAILY COVID-19 UPDATE

NEW TODAY: Here’s the latest information about Michigan Medicine’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic:

• DAILY PATIENT STATS
• DAILY TEAM MEMBER TESTING STATS
• TOWN HALL Q&A
• SEROLOGY TESTING PILOT PROGRAM
• VIRTUAL TOWN HALL ON FRIDAY, 5/23
• COMMUNICATIONS TO SUPPORT CLINICAL SERVICES RAMP UP
• REINSTATING BREAK THE GLASS FOR SUSPECTED/CONFIRMED COVID-19 PATIENTS
• COVID-19 UPDATE FREQUENCY

DAILY PATIENT STATS

Today’s census for COVID-19 inpatients and those patients under investigation (PUI) are noted below: 

Discharges: 493 total COVID-19 discharges to date, 2 in the last 24 hours.  These numbers include patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities but excludes deaths and discharges to hospice. 

Deaths and hospice: Since March 10, Michigan Medicine hospitals have had 94 total deaths or discharges to hospice, 0 in the last 24 hours. Total death and hospice numbers will be reported on Mondays.

DAILY TEAM MEMBER TESTING STATS*

* Data from 3/10 through 5/18. The testing stats reflect just Michigan Medicine employees, not all University of Michigan employees. It also reflects only those who sought testing at or were hospitalized at Michigan Medicine or reported their testing to Occupational Health Services. Some Michigan Medicine employees may have been tested outside our system.

TOWN HALL Q&A

Q. It was mentioned that every one of us will be affected by the financial improvement plan.  How are bargained-for staff contributing to cost reductions?

We are looking to all of our faculty and staff to participate in our economic recovery efforts, regardless of whether they are bargained for or non-bargained for.  We will be engaging with union leaders for discussions on our economic recovery efforts and are hopeful for productive outcomes.

Q. As things ramp up, is there a chance the retirement match will be reinstated before the end of FY21?

No. Unfortunately the decision to suspend retirement contributions is difficult for all of us, but necessary to help the organization reach our goal of $400 million in sustainable reductions to achieve a break-even status by end of FY21.  

Q. If an employee is eligible to retire, but is a reduction in force, can they keep all retirement benefits?

If the employee is eligible to retire – but they choose not to during their 1 year RIF period and are terminated they will not be eligible to receive benefits.  If the employee is eligible to retire and does so they keep retirement benefits. 

Q. If an employee voluntarily furloughs, could they be called in to be reassigned to a different area?

Employees may be called back early, if your department operations require early recall from voluntary furlough or reduction in hours. A minimum of one-week notice will be provided. Your department may recall you based on need, including if there is need for your role in another area of the department.

Q. “If we are all in this together” it is still not at all clear why the entire University is not having a benefit cut.  If we shared the burden as a University, we could limit the pain to any one school.  

The university campus and Michigan Medicine have different financial targets to meet, therefore different strategies are being implemented. The university is currently developing their financial recovery strategies for the summer and fall semesters. The important decisions we at Michigan Medicine are making at this very critical juncture of the pandemic are to ensure a strong and more secure future for the health system, the medical school, and our partners and affiliates.

Q. Given the hiring freeze, will people who are RIF’d or have reduced hours have any support from Michigan Medicine to find a new position at U-M or elsewhere or do they simply have to rely on unemployment?

Human Resources is committed to supporting our faculty and staff during these challenging times. Programs and resources are being developed to offer Career Services to those impacted by reduction in force. More information will be provided in the coming weeks. 

Q. Will an early retirement package be offered?

No, at this time there are no plans to offer early retirement packages.

SEROLOGY TESTING PILOT PROGRAM

Michigan Medicine will be participating in the CDC SARS –CoV2 health care worker serology testing pilot. As part of a regional pilot program, specimen collection at Michigan Medicine will occur daily from May 26-June 1, between 5 a.m. and 2 a.m. The CDC has contracted Quest Diagnostics to manage the specimen collection, which will take place in the Taubman Blood Draw Station on Taubman Level 2. The pilot goal is for up to 3,000 Michigan Medicine select staff from the ED, OR, and ICU areas to participate. Team members eligible to participate will be contacted by their managers or department leaders. Staff will receive their results within 48 hours and Michigan Medicine will also receive aggregated results of its health care workers. 

VIRTUAL TOWN HALL ON FRIDAY, 5/23

Michigan Medicine leaders will host a virtual Town Hall on Friday, May 22, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. to discuss updates on the economic recovery plan, operational ramp-up, and wellness. To submit a question in advance, send an email to coronavirus-info@med.umich.edu with Subject: TOWN HALL QUESTION.

Click the link below to join the meeting on Friday:

https://umich-health.zoom.us/j/92478265278?pwd=SGVvMk1NeHZISlUyRlVZNUFxWkNldz09

Password: 657670

Or iPhone one-tap: 

    US: +13017158592,,92478265278#  

Or Telephone:

    Dial:+1 301 715 8592  

    Webinar ID: 924 7826 5278

COMMUNICATIONS TO SUPPORT CLINICAL SERVICES RAMP UP

As part of Michigan Medicine’s economic recovery strategies, it is essential to rebuild patient confidence in seeking health care. Our own providers’ experiences, and extensive industry research, indicate that patients are hesitant to seek medical attention out of concern for COVID-19 exposure.  Additionally, some patients are uncertain if Michigan Medicine is offering non-COVID-19 care.

The Department of Communication is leading a comprehensive communication effort to share with patients the many measures in place to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19. The plan is also designed to increase awareness of the expanding availability of services – including widely available video visits, e-visits and resuming less-urgent procedures.

Recent tactics include a news release and media coverage about the expanded clinical operations, a video of Dr. Mark Princeexplaining three things patients should know about our safety measures, and a video promoting our commitment to safety.  E-mails and fax campaigns have been sent to over 6,000 referring providers in Michigan and Northwest Ohio. We continue to publish articles on our blog, such as this one on the importance of not delaying emergency care, and we have launched a series of social media posts countering misperceptions patients may have.

There are many more efforts underway, including a TV ad expected to launch the week of May 25. During this time of economic recovery, the decision was made to redirect funds that were already expended for a previously planned marketing effort, towards this immediate need to connect with our communities about our continued commitment to provide safe, reliable healthcare throughout our hospitals and health centers.

REINSTATING BREAK THE GLASS FOR SUSPECTED/CONFIRMED COVID-19 PATIENTS

On Wednesday 5/20/2020, the automatic Break The Glass (BTG) feature will be enabled for all patients with suspected (infection status: R/O COVID) or confirmed (infection status: COVID positive) COVID-19 infection.  BTG has been part of MiChart since 2017 and requires (1) choosing a reason from a list for accessing a chart, and (2) entering one’s Level 2 password upon entering a BTG chart.  This takes approximately 10 seconds and protects both the patient and the MiChart user from accidental unauthorized access.  If a clinician is on the patient’s treatment team or has the patient on his/her clinic schedule, the prompt will not appear.  Additionally, once the reason and password are entered, the user will not be prompted to BTG on the same patient for 30 days.

BTG was initially enabled for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection in early March.  However, given the extremely high numbers of patients for whom the prompt was appearing, the decision was made to disable BTG temporarily for this population in early April.  Since the hospital COVID-19 census has dropped to approximately 50 patients (from a high of nearly 250), BTG will be reinstated on Wednesday.

Thank you for helping us protect our patients’ privacy and confidentiality in this challenging time.

COVID-19 UPDATE FREQUENCY

This COVID-19 update has transitioned from daily frequency to a Monday, Wednesday and Friday global message to all staff until further notice.

Still have questions?

We are also posting all daily bulletins and policies on Michigan Medicine Headlines at https://mmheadlines.org/covid-19-updates/.  Please bookmark that site and refer to it throughout the day for the most up-to-date information. An FAQ for staff is also posted and updated frequently.

If you still can’t find what you’re looking for on these web pages, please email coronavirus-info@med.umich.edu and your question will be answered as quickly as possible.  Do not use this email for sharing patient health information.

Jeffrey Desmond, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer