Contributions of the Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers to the US COVID-19 Pandemic Response.

The National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) was established in 2015 to improve the capabilities of healthcare facilities to provide safe and effective care to patients with Ebola and other special pathogens in the United States. Through NETEC, a collaborative network of 10 Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs) undertook readiness activities that included potential respiratory pathogens. These preparations, which took place before the COVID-19 pandemic, established a foundation of readiness that enabled RESPTCs to play a pivotal role in the US COVID-19 pandemic response. As initial COVID-19 cases were detected in the United States, RESPTCs provided essential isolation capacity, supplies, and subject matter expertise that allowed for additional time for healthcare systems to prepare. Through the Special Pathogen Research Network, RESPTCs rapidly enrolled patients into early clinical trials. During periods of high community transmission, RESPTCs provided educational, clinical, and logistical support to a wide range of healthcare and nonhealthcare settings. In this article, we describe how NETEC and the RESPTC network leveraged this foundation of special pathogen readiness to strengthen the national healthcare system's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. NETEC and the RESPTC network have proven to be an effective model that can support the national response to future emerging special pathogens.

Applying the Plan-Do-Study-Act Approach to Support Healthcare Facilities in the Early COVID-19 Pandemic Response.

The identification of a novel respiratory pathogen in late December 2019 and the escalation in the number of infections in January 2020 required healthcare facilities to rapidly assess their planning and preparations to identify and manage suspected or confirmed cases. As a Regional Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Center, many of the policies, resources, and tools Massachusetts General Hospital had developed before the COVID-19 pandemic were based on the Identify-Isolate-Inform concept to enable rapid identification of persons under investigation; isolation from other patients, visitors, and staff; and appropriate information sharing with internal and external parties to ensure continued safety of the facility and community. Our team sought to leverage these existing resources to support other healthcare facilities and implemented a modified Plan-Do-Study-Act approach to develop, refine, and disseminate a novel coronavirus toolkit. The toolkit underwent 3 Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles resulting in revisions of specific products, and the addition of new products to the toolkit. The toolkit provided access to templated algorithms, policies and procedures, signage, and educational materials, which could be customized for local needs and implemented immediately. There was broad dissemination and use of the resources provided in the toolkit and response to end-user feedback was provided in subsequent revisions. This project demonstrates the role that Regional Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Centers can play in supporting the sharing of resources and best practices, and the utility of a Plan-Do-Study-Act approach in meeting needs.

Travel-screening documentation to enable the "Identify-Isolate-Inform" framework for emerging infectious diseases: It's all in the details.

The early phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and ongoing efforts for mitigation underscore the importance of universal travel and symptom screening. We analyzed adherence to documentation of travel and symptom screening through a travel navigator tool with clinical decision support to identify patients at risk for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.