Sustaining primary care teams in the midst of a pandemic

Erin E Sullivan; Russell S Phillips

doi:10.1186/s13584-020-00434-w

Sustaining primary care teams in the midst of a pandemic

Isr J Health Policy Res. 2020 Dec 28;9(1):77. doi: 10.1186/s13584-020-00434-w.

Authors

Erin E Sullivan^{1

2}, Russell S Phillips^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Healthcare Administration, Sawyer Business School, Suffolk University, 73 Tremont Street, 5th floor, Boston, MA, 02108, USA. esullivan5@suffolk.edu.
² Center for Primary Care, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, 635 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. esullivan5@suffolk.edu.
³ Center for Primary Care, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, 635 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
⁴ Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Boston, MA, USA.

Abstract

The challenges wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic on health systems have tested primary care clinicians, who are on the front lines of care delivery. To ensure the longevity of the primary care workforce, strong interprofessional teams are one important solution to alleviating burnout and increasing clinician and patient satisfaction, but the pandemic has demonstrated that the operating manual needs to be adapted for virtual work. Essential principles of primary care, including preventative care, communication and collaboration, and building strong relationships, can be applied to strengthen virtual primary care teams.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Communication; Interprofessional; Primary care; Teams; Virtual work.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Burnout, Professional / prevention & control*
COVID-19 / psychology*
COVID-19 / therapy*
Delivery of Health Care / methods
Humans
Israel
Pandemics
Patient Care Team*
Primary Health Care / methods*
SARS-CoV-2