Healthcare Industry Actions to Protect Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic – May 21, 2020

The Healthcare Leadership Council is comprised of leading companies from every sector of American healthcare.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be sharing examples of actions these companies are taking to protect and assist the public and combat the virus’s spread.  If you would like assistance in reaching a representative for any of these companies, please contact Kelly Fernandez at kfernandez@hlc.org. 

• With so many dentist offices closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Anthem has now expanded its telehealth coverage to include teledentistry appointments with The Teledentists organization. The coverage will allow Anthem clients to meet virtually with board-certified dentists who can assess their symptoms and prescribe medication or provide referrals to local dentist offices that are open.

• Change Healthcare has created an online research environment for public and private healthcare organizations that combines data analytic tools with de-identified health claims data to help researchers better understand COVID-19 disease progression, intervention effectiveness, and impact on the healthcare system. Change processes billions of medical and pharmacy claims annually and this data can enable researchers to go beyond static lists of diagnoses and tests.

• Minneapolis-based Fairview Health System is providing patients added protection from the coronavirus by offering a variety of drive-up health services. The health system is providing immunizations, blood pressure checks, and certain medication injections to patients who remain seated in their cars or in a tent on the Fairview facility grounds.

• The Mayo Clinic is working with the National Basketball Association in a league-wide study to determine what percentage of NBA players, coaches, executives and staff have developed antibodies to the coronavirus. The study, according to Mayo researchers, can help understand how the virus spreads through a particular population.

• A number of McKesson Health Mart pharmacies have begun offering free COVID-19 test collection. Sixty percent of Health Mart pharmacies are located in low-income communities and the company has partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services to provide testing to underserved populations free of charge.

• New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital are collaborating with Comunilife, a New York housing non-profit organization, to create an 84-bed facility for COVID-19 patients who have been living on the streets or in homeless shelters to complete their final stages of recovery after being discharged from the hospitals.