10. With visitor restrictions in place, what methods of communication were recommended to connect patients to their family/advocates outside the hospital?

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10. With visitor restrictions in place, what methods of communication were recommended to connect patients to their family/advocates outside the hospital?

a. 44% of hospitals acknowledged difficulties communicating with patients while they were in the hospital with visitor restrictions in place and provided some information about how contact could be maintained by alternative means. 23/70 institutions provided recommendations for virtual connection platforms or gave detailed instructions of how to communicate with inpatients. The most commonly mentioned platforms were FaceTime (19), Skype (16), and Zoom (8). Only 3 institutions noted MyChart could be utilized for information and/or communication. 6/70 institutions specified that hospital resources, including iPads/devices, would be provided if otherwise unavailable to a patient.

Key Clinical Questions

01. What was the timing of visitor restriction policies implemented by hospitals across the United States in response to COVID-19? Did those policies change with time?
02. For whom were the policies intended (e.g., hospital staff vs patients/families)?
03. Did hospitals implement different visitor restriction policies for COVID-19-positive and COVID-19-negative patient populations?
04. For which patient populations or treatment areas did hospitals make exceptions to these visitor restrictions?
05. What screening requirements for visitors did hospitals implement during the COVID-19 pandemic?
06. What accommodations did hospitals provide for visitors or for waiting family members/advocates?
07. What were the policies for visitor restriction for patients at end-of-life? How did hospitals define “end-of-life” for the purposes of these exceptions?
08. Who was responsible for implementing visitor restriction policies at hospitals? What pathways for escalation were introduced if questions about the policies arose?
09. What criteria did hospitals use to determine when visitor restriction policies might end or change?
10. With visitor restrictions in place, what methods of communication were recommended to connect patients to their family/advocates outside the hospital?
11. Did hospitals restrict what items family/advocates could bring or send to patients in the hospital?