A rapidly updated index of open-access COVID-19-related preprint content relevant to primary care. For push notifications when new content is added to this collection, please follow @AnnFamMed on Twitter.
Last updated 31 July 2020 9:33 CST
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Latest Works
Essay: Observations During a Week of Frontline Work with Family Medicine Residents During the Corona Virus Epidemic
Dr. Robert McKersie
The author, a medical director of a family health clinic serving a Caribbean Latinx community in Lawrence, Mass, reflects on the ways COVID-19 is impacting learning environments, clinical decision making, and one's personal relationships to medicine in a daily journal structure.
24 July 2020. Nonrefereed, online collection only. Permanent URL: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/156059
Special Report: Quick COVID-19 Primary Care Weekly Survey & Press Release, Series 17
Rebecca Etz, Advisory Group, Larry A. Green Center
"It is new, it is not normal. Masks, fear, people being more cautious than needed and others with head in sand." Missouri On Friday, March 13, 2020, The Larry A. Green Center launched its first weekly Quick COVID-19 Primary Care Survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 on practices. This survey has since been repeated weekly. These are the series 17 results.
31 July, 2020. Nonrefereed, online collection only. Permanent URL: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/156060
Special Report: Quick COVID-19 Primary Care Weekly Survey & Press Release, Series 16
Rebecca Etz, Advisory Group, Larry A. Green Center
"The 'I can do 4-6 weeks of this' transition to 'this feels like a new/permanent normal' is crushing and demoralizing. Ways to build morale when everyone is at a computer workstation away from other staff (and patients) feels impossible." -Ohio. On Friday, March 13, 2020, The Larry A. Green Center launched its first weekly Quick COVID-19 Primary Care Survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 on practices. This survey has since been repeated weekly. These are the series 16 results. 24 July, 2020. Nonrefereed, online collection only. Permanent URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/156051
Essay: The nation that opened bars and closed schools
Thomas Bodenheimer, MD, MPH
For the elderly, optimal health in the COVID-19 era is well-established: stay at home and strictly follow prevention guidelines. For children, achieving optimal health poses a serious dilemma. Staying at home and not physically attending school reduces the risk of encountering the virus but creates major problems in child health and development. How has our nation navigated this dilemma? 24 July 2020. Nonrefereed, online collection only. Permanent URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/156050
Previously Published in the Annals - Telehealth
Initial Implementation of a Web-Based Consultation Process for Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease
Nynke D. Scherpbier-de Haan, MD, et al, Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
A Web-based consultation system between family physicians and nephrologists reduces the number of referrals and appears to improve treatment appropriateness among patients with chronic kidney disease. The authors assert these findings support the introduction of telenephrology in primary care as a means of delivering higher quality, more convenient care at a lower cost. They conclude that on a broader scale, e-consultation has the potential to break down walls between primary and specialty care.
Connecting People With Multimorbidity to Interprofessional Teams Using Telemedicine
Jocelyn Charles, MD, MScCH, et al, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
This study assessed the feasibility, cost, and satisfaction of a synchronistic telemedicine model that connected patients with multimorbidities with a primary care team that included primary care physician, telemedicine-trained nurses, specialists from psychiatry and internal medicine, as well as a social worker, pharmacist, home care and community coordinator, and other professionals as appropriate, based on the patient’s needs. All 74 patient survey respondents indicated the intervention improved their access to interdisciplinary resources, and 97% reported feeling hopeful their conditions would improve as a result. Of 21 PCP survey respondents, 100% reported they would use the model intervention again, and 90% reported improved confidence in managing their patient’s care.
Patient Perceptions of Telehealth Primary Care Video Visits
Kristin L. Rising, MD, MSHP, et al, Department of Emergency Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University.
This qualitative study of 19 adult patients interviewed after video visits with their primary care clinician found that patients accept and even prefer video visits to in-person office visits. Participants reported feeling comfortable talking with their clinicians over a video call, and they identified convenience and decreased costs as benefits. Primary concerns with video visits concerned privacy, including potential for work colleagues to overhear conversations, and questioning the ability of the clinician to perform an adequate physical examination.
Expanding Primary Care Access: A Telehealth Success Story
M.R. Gonçalves, RN, et al, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) School of Medicine, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
The authors describe a telemedicine project in Brazil that included the development of a teleconsulting hotline, increased efficiencies in referral protocolas, and telediagnosis services. They briefly discuss the program's impact on increasing access to specialist consultations, diagnostic testing, and specialized medical advice to physicians.
Family Medicine COVID-19 Front Lines Blog
Introducing our new blog for family medicine case notes from the COVID-19 front lines. This is a non-refereed extension of the COVID-19 online collection. Submit your case notes and on-the-ground primary care experiences to our covidcasenotes@umich.edu team.
Published in External Sources
Editorial: An All-Hazards Approach to Pandemic COVID-19: Clarifying Pathogen Transmission Pathways Toward the Public Health Response (Journal of Environmental Health, published May, 2020) by Christopher Eddy, MPH, REHS, CP-FS, Richard Schuster, MMM, MD, FACP, FRCP (Edin), Eriko Sase, PhD
Covid-19: A Remote Assessment in Primary Care (BMJ published online 25 March 2020) - Trisha Greenhalgh, Gerald Choon Huat Koh, Josip Car
Essay: I’m a Family Doctor Fighting Against Fear and Struggling With Distancing While Trying to Keep my Patients Healthy - (The Conversation published 25 March 2020), Tammy Chang, MD, MPH, MS, family physician
COVID-19 Literature Digital Library compiled by Sachin Shah, MD, MPH UCSF @sachinjshah
Essay: Covid-19: Don’t Forget the Impact on US Family Physicians - (BMJ published 26 March 2020), Douglas Kamerow, Robert Graham Center
Editorial: Covid-19 is Harshly Testing our Capacities as Physicians and Medical Staffers - (Washington Post published 28 Marhc 2020), Ishani Ganguli, MD, MPH @IshaniG
Essay: Medicine: Before COVID-19, and After - (The Lancet published 31 March 2020), Margaret McCartney, General Practioner, @mgtmccartney
Letter: Postacute Care Preparedness for COVID-19: Thinking Ahead - (JAMA published 25 March 2020), David C. Grabowski, PhD and Karen E. Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH
Guidance for Outpatient Management of COVID-19 - (Live Google document), Jill Fenske MD, Jenna B. Greenberg MD, Elizabeth K. Jones MD, Nell Burger Kirst MD, Feranmi Okanlami MD, MS, Daniel S. Oram MD, Jacob Wasag MD, University of Michigan Medical School Department of Family Medicine
Discussion: In the comments: A 20 March 2020 JAMA editorial calls on readers to share their "creative immediate solutions for how to maximize the use of PPE, to conserve the supply of PPE, and to identify new sources of PPE."
Additional Resources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) - Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources and Updates
World Health Organization (WHO) - Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic
American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) - COVID-19: The Latest Updates
Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) - Medical Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic
American Medical Association (AMA) - COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) Resource Center for Physicians
The Hastings Center - Ethics Resources on the Coronavirus (Covid-19)
COVID-19 Health Literacy Project - Downloadable factsheets in 30 languages, developed by Harvard Medical School students, vetted by faculty clinicians, in collaboration with Harvard Health Publishing