Home and Community Care of Higher Acuity Non-Pandemic Illness
During a pandemic, primary care physicians will need to provide care in the community to an increasing number and higher acuity of patients. Patients that may have typically been admitted to hospitals for short stays may need to be treated as an outpatient during a pandemic. This is primarily to divert patients away from hospitals that are already stretched in terms of resources.12 Further, this prevents vulnerable patients from risking exposure in the hospital setting. There are multiple potential avenues to provide this increased care, including continued adapted clinic-based care, strengthened multidisciplinary home care, tele-monitoring and virtual visits.17