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Finding the Value in Personal Protective Equipment for Hospitalized Patients During a Pandemic and Beyond
Author(s) -
Steuart Rebecca,
Huang Felicia Scaggs,
Schaffzin Joshua K,
Thomson Joanna
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of hospital medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.128
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1553-5606
pISSN - 1553-5592
DOI - 10.12788/jhm.3429
Subject(s) - medicine , pandemic , personal protective equipment , covid-19 , hospital medicine , value (mathematics) , medline , coronavirus infections , medical emergency , emergency medicine , intensive care medicine , family medicine , virology , outbreak , disease , machine learning , computer science , political science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
During an infectious disease outbreak, enhanced infection control measures are the best line of defense against disease transmission among healthcare workers.1 The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is one such measure, occurring alongside other preventive precautions including hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, enhanced education, and antimicrobial stewardship efforts (collectively, “transmission-based precautions”). Because of the pandemic spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of COVID-19, there is significant disruption to the global supply of PPE.2 Order volumes of PPE have increased, prices have surged, and distributors are experiencing challenges meeting order demands.3 With decreased overseas exports, suppliers have placed hospitals on PPE allocations, and many hospitals’ orders for PPE have been only partially filled.3,4 Unless hospitals have established stockpiles, most only have supplies for 3 to 7 days of routine use, which leaves them vulnerable to exhausting PPE supplies. At the onset of the pandemic, 86% of United States hospitals reported concerns about their PPE supply.4 The potential for PPE shortages has led both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization to call for the rational and appropriate use of PPE in order to conserve supplies.2,3 By the time COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, 54% of hospitals had imposed PPE conservation protocols,4 with more expected to follow in the weeks and months to come. Innovative protocols have been conceptualized and used to conserve PPE in hospitals (Table). Yet these conservation protocols often fail to identify missed opportunities to improve the value of PPE that already exist in hospital care. By defining the value of inpatient PPE, hospitals can identify opportunities for value improvement. Changes implemented now will maximize PPE value and preserve supply during this pandemic and beyond.