case study how ochsner health created a title: covid-19
TRANSCRIPT
CASE STUDY
Title
Max 2 lines Reference the core
issue w ith follow ing structure
Format guidance
How [Institution] [Did Whatever]
Example
How ESNEFT Tracked
Avoidable Inpatient Days to
Eliminate Bottlenecks
Subtitle required
Should enhance the title
not repeat it Max 12 w ords
Format guidance
Will generally be how the
institution did the thing
Date
Updated date supersedes
published date (When you
update an article you no
longer post the published
date you only post the
updated date) Use full
month tw o digit date
and four digit year as the
published or updated date
(January 01 2020)
Time
Use 5 min increments
Case studies should
generally be 20-30 mins
for total read time
Published - 512020 bull 15-min read
Program name note
It is correct that this template
does not have a program name
on the cover
How Ochsner Health Created a
Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Converting owned post-acute assets to manage the Covid-19 surge
pg 2 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Table of contents
Formatting the Table
of Contents (ToC)
To format the ToC correctly and have the page numbers perfectly align to the right margin do the following
1) Type directly into the ToC placeholder with what the section should be called
2) Hit the ldquoTabrdquo key
3) Type in the correct page number with ldquopgrdquo before it
4) Nudge your cursor to the left with the arrow key until it is directly before the ldquoprdquo
5) Alternate between ldquoperiodrdquo and ldquospacerdquo leader builds back to the ToC content It should look something like this ( )
6) Repeat steps 1ndash5 for each level in the ToC
NOTE Since PPT does not have an automated feature for this itrsquos strongly advised that you complete the ToC last
Taxonomy
Not everything needs to be called an initiative The other approved synonyms are approach element step strategy and tactic
TOC taxonomy labeling note
If therersquos room the lines should list the actual elements not just ldquoElement 1rdquo acceptable formats are
Element 1 Define patient days as red or green
1 Define patient days as red or green
Overview pg 03
Approach pg 04
1 Identify underutilized space that can be used to fill specific system needs pg 05
2 Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread pg 06
3 Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands pg 07
Results pg 09
Related content pg 10
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
pg 3 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Overview
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
The challenge
Due to widespread Covid-19 outbreaks in nursing homes across the country
many skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are restricting new admissions until the
patient has received two negative Covid-19 tests Given shortages of testing
nationwide this has significantly slowed the discharge process from hospitals
further straining hospital capacity and making it difficult for patients to receive
much-needed therapy services
The organization
Ochsner Health is a not-for-profit health system of 11 hospitals based in New
Orleans Louisiana Ochsner owns and operates a West Campus building that
provides SNF inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) and long-term acute care
hospital (LTACH) level care in one facility The IRF and LTACH are both joint
ventures while Ochsner fully owns and operates the SNF unit itself
The approach
Ochsner decided to lease one floor of the IRF unit in their West Campus building
for Covid-19 patients that required SNF-level care The unit now only accepts
patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 and require physical occupational
andor speech therapy after hospital discharge
ldquoThe resultrdquo note
Section should be a narrative not a list of data points You can pull out the most important data point in the number to the right but thatrsquos not necessary
Key point Section SHOULD NOT be a copy of the ldquoResultsrdquo page
Section labels
Do not include one on the first page of each section
The result
The new SNF unit was created within five days helping Ochsner hospitals quickly
offload patients from acute care hospitals The 28 beds in the unit allowed Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit freeing that capacity up for more acute
patients coming into the hospital
pg 4 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Approach
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
In late March 2020 Ochsner started a five day conversion process to equip their
IRF unit to provide SNF-level care to Covid-19 patients Instead of holding
Covid-19 patients in the hospital until a SNF could accept them or building an
alternative treatment site (eg field hospital converted hotel etc) Ochsner
redeployed resources within their own system to meet an urgent patient and
system need
This report focuses on the three steps they took to convert the unit
01 Identify underutilized space that can be used to fill specific
system needs
02 Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread
03 Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands
Taxonomy
Not everything needs to be called an initiative Other approved synonyms are components steps and elements
Section goal
Should say why this case example is unique not just what the institution did
For example This institution used a very low-tech solution to a problem that other institutions have poured money into Or maybe it was a homegrown solution where others have used vendors Or maybe the institution launched a community education campaign
Section labels
Do not include one on the first page of each section
pg 5 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Identify underutilized space that can be used to fill specific system needs 01
At the peak of the pandemic most SNFs that Ochsner worked with were not
accepting Covid-19 patients into their facilities causing a backup of Covid-19
patients in need of SNF care at area hospitals At the same time Ochsnerrsquos
rehabilitation floors at their West Campus building had excess capacity due to
canceled elective surgeries and reduced trauma patients as a result of
stay-at-home orders
The IRF unit at Ochsnerrsquos West Campus building spans two floors and holds 56
beds Because of reduced admissions across the unit Ochsner decided to
repurpose one floor to manage Covid-19 patients in need of therapy after
hospital discharge
The admissions criteria for the fifth floor unit is the same as it would be for any
SNF with one exception the patients all had to be Covid-19 positive The unit
focuses exclusively on therapymdashphysical occupational speech and or
respiratorymdashand does not accept patients in need of custodial care only The
third floor of the building continues to operate as a SNF but does not accept
patients who have tested positive for Covid-19
Source Arora V and Fried J ldquoHow Will We Care For Coronavirus Patients After They Leave The Hospital By Building Postacute Care Surge Capacityrdquo Health Affairs Published April 13 2020
Expected demand for therapy services among Covid-19 patients
Covid-19 patients may require outpatient rehabilitation services 10 million
700000 Covid-19 patients may require inpatient short-stay rehabilitation
2x Number of average annual short-stay residents expected
pg 6 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread 02
Before accepting patients into the unit the first thing Ochsner had to do was
ensure the current patients on the floor could be discharged to another location
Because the unit was already low-volume they were able to transfer some
patients to the other IRF floor in the building while the remaining patients would
be discharge-ready by the time Ochsner planned to open the unit This allowed
Ochsner to dedicate an entire floor to Covid-19 caremdashminimizing the risk of
spreading infection to other rehab patients
Next because the IRF unit is a JV with another organization Ochsner had to
enter into an arrangement with their partners to lease all the beds on the floor
The JV partner temporarily delicensed their beds on the floor and Ochsner
temporarily expanded their SNF license to cover the 28 beds on that unit
Ochsner is fully assuming the cost of these lease payments and is receiving
reimbursement for the care they provide under the federal 1135 waivers
Finally Ochsner had to make changes to the physical space of the unit to
prepare for Covid-19 patients Fortunately the IRF floor that Ochsner moved
these patients into didnrsquot need many modifications for them to make the switch to
a Covid-19 SNF unit The only significant change the team had to make to the
floor was adding temporary walls to give staff space to safely don and doff PPE
pg 7 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands 03
Perhaps the most difficult part of Ochsnerrsquos process was securing and training
staff to manage the unit Ochsner had to both redeploy staff from other locations
within the system and train those staff to care for Covid-19 patients
Redeploying staff to meet urgent SNF unit needs
To manage the new patients coming in with
Covid-19 Ochsner primarily leaned on staff from
other facilities across the system that were
realizing reduced volumes For example because
Ochsner had also temporarily suspended
operation of its LTACH to make room for excess
med-surg patients Ochsner could redeploy those
staff to the Covid-19 SNF unit to assist with both
patient care and staff training
Phased admission process gives staff an opportunity to learn
To make the SNF unit a reality in just five days Ochsner had to educate unit
staff members on new policies and procedures quickly In addition to learning
how to care for Covid-19 SNF patient needs staff also had to learn how to
record information in their EMR system
Staff needed Primary source
Therapists Inpatient and outpatient therapy facilities
RNs LTACH
LPNs LTACH outpatient clinics
Patient care technicians
Outpatient clinics
Medical assistants Outpatient clinics
pg 8 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
No content above
this guide
PHASE IN ADMISSIONS TO GIVE STAFF TIME TO ADJUST TO NEW DEMANDS
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
To give new staff time to prepare Ochsner started by keeping the census of the
unit low for the first few days The first five days the unit was open the census
was held at around 15 patients This allowed staff an opportunity to shadow
more experienced team members take the time to learn the EMR and complete
online learning modules At the same time Ochsner was able to start offloading
patients to the unit earlier than they would have if they had waited for staff to get
fully up to speed
Unit opens for first 15 patients
Unit opens for full capacity
Days 0-5 Days 6-10
bull Online training on EMR platform
bull Shadowing staff on the non-Covid-19 SNF floor in the building
bull Bedside training with experienced mentors from the LTACH unit
bull Practicing new EMR patient care skills
bull Ongoing training shadowing and mentorship opportunities as needed
Ochsnerrsquos phased SNF Covid-19 unit opening plan
pg 9 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Results
CASE STUDY
Results notes
The title of this page is ldquoResultsrdquo not ldquoResultrdquo since it should list all the results of the case Do not alter
The page should also use a combination of narrative and data
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Ochsner successfully converted a 28-bed IRF unit into a
Covid-19 SNF in just five days getting it up to full
capacity in just five more This allowed the hospital to
quickly discharge patients that had previously been
difficult to place The 28 beds in the unit enabled Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit at one of their
hospitals
In addition the change helped Covid-19 patients get the
therapy they needed to start their recovery and it gave
other SNFs in the area space to focus on infection control
for their current patients and staff Ochsner has been able
to discharge many of the patients from the unit directly
home Some continue to receive support through home
health care while others return to a nursing home after
testing negative for Covid-19
28 Number of Covid-19 SNF beds created
5 Number of days it took to convert the unit
pg 10 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Related content
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
ARTICLE
The Missing Piece of your Covid-19
Capacity Strategy Post-Acute Care Read now
ARTICLE
How 5 Hospitals are Helping Nursing Homes
Control Covid-19 Read now
ARTICLE
Guide Covid-19 Facility Planning by Patient
Cohort Read now
ARTICLE
7 Lessons on Discharge Planning during
Covid-19 from UW Medicine
Read now
pg 11 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
LEGAL CAVEAT
Advisory Board has made efforts to verify the accuracy of the information it provides to members This report relies on data obtained from many
sources however and Advisory Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon In addition Advisory Board is not in the business of giving legal medical accounting or other professional advice and its reports should not be construed as
professional advice In particular members should not rely on any legal commentary in this report as a basis for action or assume that any tactics described herein would be permitted by applicable law or appropriate for a given memberrsquos situation Members are advised to consult with
appropriate professionals concerning legal medical tax or accounting issues before implementing any of these tactics Neither Advisory Board nor its officers directors trustees employees and agents shall be liable for any claims liabilities or expenses relating to (a) any errors or
omissions in this report whether caused by Advisory Board or any of its employees or agents or sources or other third parties (b) any recommendation or graded ranking by Advisory Board or (c) failure of member and its employees and agents to abide by the terms set forth herein
Advisory Board and the ldquoArdquo logo are registered trademarks of The Advisory Board Company in the United States and other countr ies Members are not permitted to use these trademarks or any other trademark product name service name trade name and logo of Advisory Board without prior
written consent of Advisory Board All other trademarks product names service names trade names and logos used within these pages are the property of their respective holders Use of other company trademarks product names service names trade names and logos or images of the
same does not necessarily constitute (a) an endorsement by such company of Advisory Board and its products and services or (b) an
endorsement of the company or its products or services by Advisory Board Advisory Board is not affiliated with any such company
IMPORTANT Please read the following
Advisory Board has prepared this report for the exclusive use of its members Each member acknowledges and agrees that this report and
the information contained herein (collectively the ldquoReportrdquo) are confidential and proprietary to Advisory Board By accepting delivery of this Report each member agrees to abide by the terms as stated herein including the following
1 Advisory Board owns all right title and interest in and to this Report Except as stated herein no right license permiss ion or interest of any kind in this Report is intended to be given transferred to or acquired by a member Each member is authorized to use this Report only to the
extent expressly authorized herein
2 Each member shall not sell license republish or post online or otherwise this Report in part or in whole Each member shall not disseminate
or permit the use of and shall take reasonable precautions to prevent such dissemination or use of this Report by (a) any of its employees and agents (except as stated below) or (b) any third party
3 Each member may make this Report available solely to those of its employees and agents who (a) are registered for the workshop or
membership program of which this Report is a part (b) require access to this Report in order to learn from the information described herein
and (c) agree not to disclose this Report to other employees or agents or any third party Each member shall use and shall ensure that its employees and agents use this Report for its internal use only Each member may make a limited number of copies solely as adequate for use
by its employees and agents in accordance with the terms herein
4 Each member shall not remove from this Report any confidential markings copyright notices andor other similar indicia herein
5 Each member is responsible for any breach of its obligations as stated herein by any of its employees or agents
6 If a member is unwilling to abide by any of the foregoing obligations then such member shall promptly return this Report and all copies thereof
to Advisory Board
Mandatory
This page for the credits
legal caveat w ill be at the
end of the document just
before the back page
Post-Acute Care Collaborative
Project director Carolyn Buys
buyscadvisorycom
Research team Aliki Karnavas
Program Leadership Jared Landis Managing Director
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Monica Westhead Practice Manager
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom
pg 2 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Table of contents
Formatting the Table
of Contents (ToC)
To format the ToC correctly and have the page numbers perfectly align to the right margin do the following
1) Type directly into the ToC placeholder with what the section should be called
2) Hit the ldquoTabrdquo key
3) Type in the correct page number with ldquopgrdquo before it
4) Nudge your cursor to the left with the arrow key until it is directly before the ldquoprdquo
5) Alternate between ldquoperiodrdquo and ldquospacerdquo leader builds back to the ToC content It should look something like this ( )
6) Repeat steps 1ndash5 for each level in the ToC
NOTE Since PPT does not have an automated feature for this itrsquos strongly advised that you complete the ToC last
Taxonomy
Not everything needs to be called an initiative The other approved synonyms are approach element step strategy and tactic
TOC taxonomy labeling note
If therersquos room the lines should list the actual elements not just ldquoElement 1rdquo acceptable formats are
Element 1 Define patient days as red or green
1 Define patient days as red or green
Overview pg 03
Approach pg 04
1 Identify underutilized space that can be used to fill specific system needs pg 05
2 Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread pg 06
3 Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands pg 07
Results pg 09
Related content pg 10
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
pg 3 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Overview
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
The challenge
Due to widespread Covid-19 outbreaks in nursing homes across the country
many skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are restricting new admissions until the
patient has received two negative Covid-19 tests Given shortages of testing
nationwide this has significantly slowed the discharge process from hospitals
further straining hospital capacity and making it difficult for patients to receive
much-needed therapy services
The organization
Ochsner Health is a not-for-profit health system of 11 hospitals based in New
Orleans Louisiana Ochsner owns and operates a West Campus building that
provides SNF inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) and long-term acute care
hospital (LTACH) level care in one facility The IRF and LTACH are both joint
ventures while Ochsner fully owns and operates the SNF unit itself
The approach
Ochsner decided to lease one floor of the IRF unit in their West Campus building
for Covid-19 patients that required SNF-level care The unit now only accepts
patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 and require physical occupational
andor speech therapy after hospital discharge
ldquoThe resultrdquo note
Section should be a narrative not a list of data points You can pull out the most important data point in the number to the right but thatrsquos not necessary
Key point Section SHOULD NOT be a copy of the ldquoResultsrdquo page
Section labels
Do not include one on the first page of each section
The result
The new SNF unit was created within five days helping Ochsner hospitals quickly
offload patients from acute care hospitals The 28 beds in the unit allowed Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit freeing that capacity up for more acute
patients coming into the hospital
pg 4 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Approach
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
In late March 2020 Ochsner started a five day conversion process to equip their
IRF unit to provide SNF-level care to Covid-19 patients Instead of holding
Covid-19 patients in the hospital until a SNF could accept them or building an
alternative treatment site (eg field hospital converted hotel etc) Ochsner
redeployed resources within their own system to meet an urgent patient and
system need
This report focuses on the three steps they took to convert the unit
01 Identify underutilized space that can be used to fill specific
system needs
02 Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread
03 Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands
Taxonomy
Not everything needs to be called an initiative Other approved synonyms are components steps and elements
Section goal
Should say why this case example is unique not just what the institution did
For example This institution used a very low-tech solution to a problem that other institutions have poured money into Or maybe it was a homegrown solution where others have used vendors Or maybe the institution launched a community education campaign
Section labels
Do not include one on the first page of each section
pg 5 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Identify underutilized space that can be used to fill specific system needs 01
At the peak of the pandemic most SNFs that Ochsner worked with were not
accepting Covid-19 patients into their facilities causing a backup of Covid-19
patients in need of SNF care at area hospitals At the same time Ochsnerrsquos
rehabilitation floors at their West Campus building had excess capacity due to
canceled elective surgeries and reduced trauma patients as a result of
stay-at-home orders
The IRF unit at Ochsnerrsquos West Campus building spans two floors and holds 56
beds Because of reduced admissions across the unit Ochsner decided to
repurpose one floor to manage Covid-19 patients in need of therapy after
hospital discharge
The admissions criteria for the fifth floor unit is the same as it would be for any
SNF with one exception the patients all had to be Covid-19 positive The unit
focuses exclusively on therapymdashphysical occupational speech and or
respiratorymdashand does not accept patients in need of custodial care only The
third floor of the building continues to operate as a SNF but does not accept
patients who have tested positive for Covid-19
Source Arora V and Fried J ldquoHow Will We Care For Coronavirus Patients After They Leave The Hospital By Building Postacute Care Surge Capacityrdquo Health Affairs Published April 13 2020
Expected demand for therapy services among Covid-19 patients
Covid-19 patients may require outpatient rehabilitation services 10 million
700000 Covid-19 patients may require inpatient short-stay rehabilitation
2x Number of average annual short-stay residents expected
pg 6 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread 02
Before accepting patients into the unit the first thing Ochsner had to do was
ensure the current patients on the floor could be discharged to another location
Because the unit was already low-volume they were able to transfer some
patients to the other IRF floor in the building while the remaining patients would
be discharge-ready by the time Ochsner planned to open the unit This allowed
Ochsner to dedicate an entire floor to Covid-19 caremdashminimizing the risk of
spreading infection to other rehab patients
Next because the IRF unit is a JV with another organization Ochsner had to
enter into an arrangement with their partners to lease all the beds on the floor
The JV partner temporarily delicensed their beds on the floor and Ochsner
temporarily expanded their SNF license to cover the 28 beds on that unit
Ochsner is fully assuming the cost of these lease payments and is receiving
reimbursement for the care they provide under the federal 1135 waivers
Finally Ochsner had to make changes to the physical space of the unit to
prepare for Covid-19 patients Fortunately the IRF floor that Ochsner moved
these patients into didnrsquot need many modifications for them to make the switch to
a Covid-19 SNF unit The only significant change the team had to make to the
floor was adding temporary walls to give staff space to safely don and doff PPE
pg 7 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands 03
Perhaps the most difficult part of Ochsnerrsquos process was securing and training
staff to manage the unit Ochsner had to both redeploy staff from other locations
within the system and train those staff to care for Covid-19 patients
Redeploying staff to meet urgent SNF unit needs
To manage the new patients coming in with
Covid-19 Ochsner primarily leaned on staff from
other facilities across the system that were
realizing reduced volumes For example because
Ochsner had also temporarily suspended
operation of its LTACH to make room for excess
med-surg patients Ochsner could redeploy those
staff to the Covid-19 SNF unit to assist with both
patient care and staff training
Phased admission process gives staff an opportunity to learn
To make the SNF unit a reality in just five days Ochsner had to educate unit
staff members on new policies and procedures quickly In addition to learning
how to care for Covid-19 SNF patient needs staff also had to learn how to
record information in their EMR system
Staff needed Primary source
Therapists Inpatient and outpatient therapy facilities
RNs LTACH
LPNs LTACH outpatient clinics
Patient care technicians
Outpatient clinics
Medical assistants Outpatient clinics
pg 8 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
No content above
this guide
PHASE IN ADMISSIONS TO GIVE STAFF TIME TO ADJUST TO NEW DEMANDS
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
To give new staff time to prepare Ochsner started by keeping the census of the
unit low for the first few days The first five days the unit was open the census
was held at around 15 patients This allowed staff an opportunity to shadow
more experienced team members take the time to learn the EMR and complete
online learning modules At the same time Ochsner was able to start offloading
patients to the unit earlier than they would have if they had waited for staff to get
fully up to speed
Unit opens for first 15 patients
Unit opens for full capacity
Days 0-5 Days 6-10
bull Online training on EMR platform
bull Shadowing staff on the non-Covid-19 SNF floor in the building
bull Bedside training with experienced mentors from the LTACH unit
bull Practicing new EMR patient care skills
bull Ongoing training shadowing and mentorship opportunities as needed
Ochsnerrsquos phased SNF Covid-19 unit opening plan
pg 9 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Results
CASE STUDY
Results notes
The title of this page is ldquoResultsrdquo not ldquoResultrdquo since it should list all the results of the case Do not alter
The page should also use a combination of narrative and data
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Ochsner successfully converted a 28-bed IRF unit into a
Covid-19 SNF in just five days getting it up to full
capacity in just five more This allowed the hospital to
quickly discharge patients that had previously been
difficult to place The 28 beds in the unit enabled Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit at one of their
hospitals
In addition the change helped Covid-19 patients get the
therapy they needed to start their recovery and it gave
other SNFs in the area space to focus on infection control
for their current patients and staff Ochsner has been able
to discharge many of the patients from the unit directly
home Some continue to receive support through home
health care while others return to a nursing home after
testing negative for Covid-19
28 Number of Covid-19 SNF beds created
5 Number of days it took to convert the unit
pg 10 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Related content
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
ARTICLE
The Missing Piece of your Covid-19
Capacity Strategy Post-Acute Care Read now
ARTICLE
How 5 Hospitals are Helping Nursing Homes
Control Covid-19 Read now
ARTICLE
Guide Covid-19 Facility Planning by Patient
Cohort Read now
ARTICLE
7 Lessons on Discharge Planning during
Covid-19 from UW Medicine
Read now
pg 11 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
LEGAL CAVEAT
Advisory Board has made efforts to verify the accuracy of the information it provides to members This report relies on data obtained from many
sources however and Advisory Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon In addition Advisory Board is not in the business of giving legal medical accounting or other professional advice and its reports should not be construed as
professional advice In particular members should not rely on any legal commentary in this report as a basis for action or assume that any tactics described herein would be permitted by applicable law or appropriate for a given memberrsquos situation Members are advised to consult with
appropriate professionals concerning legal medical tax or accounting issues before implementing any of these tactics Neither Advisory Board nor its officers directors trustees employees and agents shall be liable for any claims liabilities or expenses relating to (a) any errors or
omissions in this report whether caused by Advisory Board or any of its employees or agents or sources or other third parties (b) any recommendation or graded ranking by Advisory Board or (c) failure of member and its employees and agents to abide by the terms set forth herein
Advisory Board and the ldquoArdquo logo are registered trademarks of The Advisory Board Company in the United States and other countr ies Members are not permitted to use these trademarks or any other trademark product name service name trade name and logo of Advisory Board without prior
written consent of Advisory Board All other trademarks product names service names trade names and logos used within these pages are the property of their respective holders Use of other company trademarks product names service names trade names and logos or images of the
same does not necessarily constitute (a) an endorsement by such company of Advisory Board and its products and services or (b) an
endorsement of the company or its products or services by Advisory Board Advisory Board is not affiliated with any such company
IMPORTANT Please read the following
Advisory Board has prepared this report for the exclusive use of its members Each member acknowledges and agrees that this report and
the information contained herein (collectively the ldquoReportrdquo) are confidential and proprietary to Advisory Board By accepting delivery of this Report each member agrees to abide by the terms as stated herein including the following
1 Advisory Board owns all right title and interest in and to this Report Except as stated herein no right license permiss ion or interest of any kind in this Report is intended to be given transferred to or acquired by a member Each member is authorized to use this Report only to the
extent expressly authorized herein
2 Each member shall not sell license republish or post online or otherwise this Report in part or in whole Each member shall not disseminate
or permit the use of and shall take reasonable precautions to prevent such dissemination or use of this Report by (a) any of its employees and agents (except as stated below) or (b) any third party
3 Each member may make this Report available solely to those of its employees and agents who (a) are registered for the workshop or
membership program of which this Report is a part (b) require access to this Report in order to learn from the information described herein
and (c) agree not to disclose this Report to other employees or agents or any third party Each member shall use and shall ensure that its employees and agents use this Report for its internal use only Each member may make a limited number of copies solely as adequate for use
by its employees and agents in accordance with the terms herein
4 Each member shall not remove from this Report any confidential markings copyright notices andor other similar indicia herein
5 Each member is responsible for any breach of its obligations as stated herein by any of its employees or agents
6 If a member is unwilling to abide by any of the foregoing obligations then such member shall promptly return this Report and all copies thereof
to Advisory Board
Mandatory
This page for the credits
legal caveat w ill be at the
end of the document just
before the back page
Post-Acute Care Collaborative
Project director Carolyn Buys
buyscadvisorycom
Research team Aliki Karnavas
Program Leadership Jared Landis Managing Director
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Monica Westhead Practice Manager
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom
pg 3 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Overview
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
The challenge
Due to widespread Covid-19 outbreaks in nursing homes across the country
many skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are restricting new admissions until the
patient has received two negative Covid-19 tests Given shortages of testing
nationwide this has significantly slowed the discharge process from hospitals
further straining hospital capacity and making it difficult for patients to receive
much-needed therapy services
The organization
Ochsner Health is a not-for-profit health system of 11 hospitals based in New
Orleans Louisiana Ochsner owns and operates a West Campus building that
provides SNF inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) and long-term acute care
hospital (LTACH) level care in one facility The IRF and LTACH are both joint
ventures while Ochsner fully owns and operates the SNF unit itself
The approach
Ochsner decided to lease one floor of the IRF unit in their West Campus building
for Covid-19 patients that required SNF-level care The unit now only accepts
patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 and require physical occupational
andor speech therapy after hospital discharge
ldquoThe resultrdquo note
Section should be a narrative not a list of data points You can pull out the most important data point in the number to the right but thatrsquos not necessary
Key point Section SHOULD NOT be a copy of the ldquoResultsrdquo page
Section labels
Do not include one on the first page of each section
The result
The new SNF unit was created within five days helping Ochsner hospitals quickly
offload patients from acute care hospitals The 28 beds in the unit allowed Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit freeing that capacity up for more acute
patients coming into the hospital
pg 4 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Approach
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
In late March 2020 Ochsner started a five day conversion process to equip their
IRF unit to provide SNF-level care to Covid-19 patients Instead of holding
Covid-19 patients in the hospital until a SNF could accept them or building an
alternative treatment site (eg field hospital converted hotel etc) Ochsner
redeployed resources within their own system to meet an urgent patient and
system need
This report focuses on the three steps they took to convert the unit
01 Identify underutilized space that can be used to fill specific
system needs
02 Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread
03 Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands
Taxonomy
Not everything needs to be called an initiative Other approved synonyms are components steps and elements
Section goal
Should say why this case example is unique not just what the institution did
For example This institution used a very low-tech solution to a problem that other institutions have poured money into Or maybe it was a homegrown solution where others have used vendors Or maybe the institution launched a community education campaign
Section labels
Do not include one on the first page of each section
pg 5 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Identify underutilized space that can be used to fill specific system needs 01
At the peak of the pandemic most SNFs that Ochsner worked with were not
accepting Covid-19 patients into their facilities causing a backup of Covid-19
patients in need of SNF care at area hospitals At the same time Ochsnerrsquos
rehabilitation floors at their West Campus building had excess capacity due to
canceled elective surgeries and reduced trauma patients as a result of
stay-at-home orders
The IRF unit at Ochsnerrsquos West Campus building spans two floors and holds 56
beds Because of reduced admissions across the unit Ochsner decided to
repurpose one floor to manage Covid-19 patients in need of therapy after
hospital discharge
The admissions criteria for the fifth floor unit is the same as it would be for any
SNF with one exception the patients all had to be Covid-19 positive The unit
focuses exclusively on therapymdashphysical occupational speech and or
respiratorymdashand does not accept patients in need of custodial care only The
third floor of the building continues to operate as a SNF but does not accept
patients who have tested positive for Covid-19
Source Arora V and Fried J ldquoHow Will We Care For Coronavirus Patients After They Leave The Hospital By Building Postacute Care Surge Capacityrdquo Health Affairs Published April 13 2020
Expected demand for therapy services among Covid-19 patients
Covid-19 patients may require outpatient rehabilitation services 10 million
700000 Covid-19 patients may require inpatient short-stay rehabilitation
2x Number of average annual short-stay residents expected
pg 6 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread 02
Before accepting patients into the unit the first thing Ochsner had to do was
ensure the current patients on the floor could be discharged to another location
Because the unit was already low-volume they were able to transfer some
patients to the other IRF floor in the building while the remaining patients would
be discharge-ready by the time Ochsner planned to open the unit This allowed
Ochsner to dedicate an entire floor to Covid-19 caremdashminimizing the risk of
spreading infection to other rehab patients
Next because the IRF unit is a JV with another organization Ochsner had to
enter into an arrangement with their partners to lease all the beds on the floor
The JV partner temporarily delicensed their beds on the floor and Ochsner
temporarily expanded their SNF license to cover the 28 beds on that unit
Ochsner is fully assuming the cost of these lease payments and is receiving
reimbursement for the care they provide under the federal 1135 waivers
Finally Ochsner had to make changes to the physical space of the unit to
prepare for Covid-19 patients Fortunately the IRF floor that Ochsner moved
these patients into didnrsquot need many modifications for them to make the switch to
a Covid-19 SNF unit The only significant change the team had to make to the
floor was adding temporary walls to give staff space to safely don and doff PPE
pg 7 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands 03
Perhaps the most difficult part of Ochsnerrsquos process was securing and training
staff to manage the unit Ochsner had to both redeploy staff from other locations
within the system and train those staff to care for Covid-19 patients
Redeploying staff to meet urgent SNF unit needs
To manage the new patients coming in with
Covid-19 Ochsner primarily leaned on staff from
other facilities across the system that were
realizing reduced volumes For example because
Ochsner had also temporarily suspended
operation of its LTACH to make room for excess
med-surg patients Ochsner could redeploy those
staff to the Covid-19 SNF unit to assist with both
patient care and staff training
Phased admission process gives staff an opportunity to learn
To make the SNF unit a reality in just five days Ochsner had to educate unit
staff members on new policies and procedures quickly In addition to learning
how to care for Covid-19 SNF patient needs staff also had to learn how to
record information in their EMR system
Staff needed Primary source
Therapists Inpatient and outpatient therapy facilities
RNs LTACH
LPNs LTACH outpatient clinics
Patient care technicians
Outpatient clinics
Medical assistants Outpatient clinics
pg 8 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
No content above
this guide
PHASE IN ADMISSIONS TO GIVE STAFF TIME TO ADJUST TO NEW DEMANDS
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
To give new staff time to prepare Ochsner started by keeping the census of the
unit low for the first few days The first five days the unit was open the census
was held at around 15 patients This allowed staff an opportunity to shadow
more experienced team members take the time to learn the EMR and complete
online learning modules At the same time Ochsner was able to start offloading
patients to the unit earlier than they would have if they had waited for staff to get
fully up to speed
Unit opens for first 15 patients
Unit opens for full capacity
Days 0-5 Days 6-10
bull Online training on EMR platform
bull Shadowing staff on the non-Covid-19 SNF floor in the building
bull Bedside training with experienced mentors from the LTACH unit
bull Practicing new EMR patient care skills
bull Ongoing training shadowing and mentorship opportunities as needed
Ochsnerrsquos phased SNF Covid-19 unit opening plan
pg 9 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Results
CASE STUDY
Results notes
The title of this page is ldquoResultsrdquo not ldquoResultrdquo since it should list all the results of the case Do not alter
The page should also use a combination of narrative and data
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Ochsner successfully converted a 28-bed IRF unit into a
Covid-19 SNF in just five days getting it up to full
capacity in just five more This allowed the hospital to
quickly discharge patients that had previously been
difficult to place The 28 beds in the unit enabled Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit at one of their
hospitals
In addition the change helped Covid-19 patients get the
therapy they needed to start their recovery and it gave
other SNFs in the area space to focus on infection control
for their current patients and staff Ochsner has been able
to discharge many of the patients from the unit directly
home Some continue to receive support through home
health care while others return to a nursing home after
testing negative for Covid-19
28 Number of Covid-19 SNF beds created
5 Number of days it took to convert the unit
pg 10 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Related content
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
ARTICLE
The Missing Piece of your Covid-19
Capacity Strategy Post-Acute Care Read now
ARTICLE
How 5 Hospitals are Helping Nursing Homes
Control Covid-19 Read now
ARTICLE
Guide Covid-19 Facility Planning by Patient
Cohort Read now
ARTICLE
7 Lessons on Discharge Planning during
Covid-19 from UW Medicine
Read now
pg 11 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
LEGAL CAVEAT
Advisory Board has made efforts to verify the accuracy of the information it provides to members This report relies on data obtained from many
sources however and Advisory Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon In addition Advisory Board is not in the business of giving legal medical accounting or other professional advice and its reports should not be construed as
professional advice In particular members should not rely on any legal commentary in this report as a basis for action or assume that any tactics described herein would be permitted by applicable law or appropriate for a given memberrsquos situation Members are advised to consult with
appropriate professionals concerning legal medical tax or accounting issues before implementing any of these tactics Neither Advisory Board nor its officers directors trustees employees and agents shall be liable for any claims liabilities or expenses relating to (a) any errors or
omissions in this report whether caused by Advisory Board or any of its employees or agents or sources or other third parties (b) any recommendation or graded ranking by Advisory Board or (c) failure of member and its employees and agents to abide by the terms set forth herein
Advisory Board and the ldquoArdquo logo are registered trademarks of The Advisory Board Company in the United States and other countr ies Members are not permitted to use these trademarks or any other trademark product name service name trade name and logo of Advisory Board without prior
written consent of Advisory Board All other trademarks product names service names trade names and logos used within these pages are the property of their respective holders Use of other company trademarks product names service names trade names and logos or images of the
same does not necessarily constitute (a) an endorsement by such company of Advisory Board and its products and services or (b) an
endorsement of the company or its products or services by Advisory Board Advisory Board is not affiliated with any such company
IMPORTANT Please read the following
Advisory Board has prepared this report for the exclusive use of its members Each member acknowledges and agrees that this report and
the information contained herein (collectively the ldquoReportrdquo) are confidential and proprietary to Advisory Board By accepting delivery of this Report each member agrees to abide by the terms as stated herein including the following
1 Advisory Board owns all right title and interest in and to this Report Except as stated herein no right license permiss ion or interest of any kind in this Report is intended to be given transferred to or acquired by a member Each member is authorized to use this Report only to the
extent expressly authorized herein
2 Each member shall not sell license republish or post online or otherwise this Report in part or in whole Each member shall not disseminate
or permit the use of and shall take reasonable precautions to prevent such dissemination or use of this Report by (a) any of its employees and agents (except as stated below) or (b) any third party
3 Each member may make this Report available solely to those of its employees and agents who (a) are registered for the workshop or
membership program of which this Report is a part (b) require access to this Report in order to learn from the information described herein
and (c) agree not to disclose this Report to other employees or agents or any third party Each member shall use and shall ensure that its employees and agents use this Report for its internal use only Each member may make a limited number of copies solely as adequate for use
by its employees and agents in accordance with the terms herein
4 Each member shall not remove from this Report any confidential markings copyright notices andor other similar indicia herein
5 Each member is responsible for any breach of its obligations as stated herein by any of its employees or agents
6 If a member is unwilling to abide by any of the foregoing obligations then such member shall promptly return this Report and all copies thereof
to Advisory Board
Mandatory
This page for the credits
legal caveat w ill be at the
end of the document just
before the back page
Post-Acute Care Collaborative
Project director Carolyn Buys
buyscadvisorycom
Research team Aliki Karnavas
Program Leadership Jared Landis Managing Director
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Monica Westhead Practice Manager
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom
pg 4 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Approach
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
In late March 2020 Ochsner started a five day conversion process to equip their
IRF unit to provide SNF-level care to Covid-19 patients Instead of holding
Covid-19 patients in the hospital until a SNF could accept them or building an
alternative treatment site (eg field hospital converted hotel etc) Ochsner
redeployed resources within their own system to meet an urgent patient and
system need
This report focuses on the three steps they took to convert the unit
01 Identify underutilized space that can be used to fill specific
system needs
02 Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread
03 Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands
Taxonomy
Not everything needs to be called an initiative Other approved synonyms are components steps and elements
Section goal
Should say why this case example is unique not just what the institution did
For example This institution used a very low-tech solution to a problem that other institutions have poured money into Or maybe it was a homegrown solution where others have used vendors Or maybe the institution launched a community education campaign
Section labels
Do not include one on the first page of each section
pg 5 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Identify underutilized space that can be used to fill specific system needs 01
At the peak of the pandemic most SNFs that Ochsner worked with were not
accepting Covid-19 patients into their facilities causing a backup of Covid-19
patients in need of SNF care at area hospitals At the same time Ochsnerrsquos
rehabilitation floors at their West Campus building had excess capacity due to
canceled elective surgeries and reduced trauma patients as a result of
stay-at-home orders
The IRF unit at Ochsnerrsquos West Campus building spans two floors and holds 56
beds Because of reduced admissions across the unit Ochsner decided to
repurpose one floor to manage Covid-19 patients in need of therapy after
hospital discharge
The admissions criteria for the fifth floor unit is the same as it would be for any
SNF with one exception the patients all had to be Covid-19 positive The unit
focuses exclusively on therapymdashphysical occupational speech and or
respiratorymdashand does not accept patients in need of custodial care only The
third floor of the building continues to operate as a SNF but does not accept
patients who have tested positive for Covid-19
Source Arora V and Fried J ldquoHow Will We Care For Coronavirus Patients After They Leave The Hospital By Building Postacute Care Surge Capacityrdquo Health Affairs Published April 13 2020
Expected demand for therapy services among Covid-19 patients
Covid-19 patients may require outpatient rehabilitation services 10 million
700000 Covid-19 patients may require inpatient short-stay rehabilitation
2x Number of average annual short-stay residents expected
pg 6 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread 02
Before accepting patients into the unit the first thing Ochsner had to do was
ensure the current patients on the floor could be discharged to another location
Because the unit was already low-volume they were able to transfer some
patients to the other IRF floor in the building while the remaining patients would
be discharge-ready by the time Ochsner planned to open the unit This allowed
Ochsner to dedicate an entire floor to Covid-19 caremdashminimizing the risk of
spreading infection to other rehab patients
Next because the IRF unit is a JV with another organization Ochsner had to
enter into an arrangement with their partners to lease all the beds on the floor
The JV partner temporarily delicensed their beds on the floor and Ochsner
temporarily expanded their SNF license to cover the 28 beds on that unit
Ochsner is fully assuming the cost of these lease payments and is receiving
reimbursement for the care they provide under the federal 1135 waivers
Finally Ochsner had to make changes to the physical space of the unit to
prepare for Covid-19 patients Fortunately the IRF floor that Ochsner moved
these patients into didnrsquot need many modifications for them to make the switch to
a Covid-19 SNF unit The only significant change the team had to make to the
floor was adding temporary walls to give staff space to safely don and doff PPE
pg 7 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands 03
Perhaps the most difficult part of Ochsnerrsquos process was securing and training
staff to manage the unit Ochsner had to both redeploy staff from other locations
within the system and train those staff to care for Covid-19 patients
Redeploying staff to meet urgent SNF unit needs
To manage the new patients coming in with
Covid-19 Ochsner primarily leaned on staff from
other facilities across the system that were
realizing reduced volumes For example because
Ochsner had also temporarily suspended
operation of its LTACH to make room for excess
med-surg patients Ochsner could redeploy those
staff to the Covid-19 SNF unit to assist with both
patient care and staff training
Phased admission process gives staff an opportunity to learn
To make the SNF unit a reality in just five days Ochsner had to educate unit
staff members on new policies and procedures quickly In addition to learning
how to care for Covid-19 SNF patient needs staff also had to learn how to
record information in their EMR system
Staff needed Primary source
Therapists Inpatient and outpatient therapy facilities
RNs LTACH
LPNs LTACH outpatient clinics
Patient care technicians
Outpatient clinics
Medical assistants Outpatient clinics
pg 8 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
No content above
this guide
PHASE IN ADMISSIONS TO GIVE STAFF TIME TO ADJUST TO NEW DEMANDS
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
To give new staff time to prepare Ochsner started by keeping the census of the
unit low for the first few days The first five days the unit was open the census
was held at around 15 patients This allowed staff an opportunity to shadow
more experienced team members take the time to learn the EMR and complete
online learning modules At the same time Ochsner was able to start offloading
patients to the unit earlier than they would have if they had waited for staff to get
fully up to speed
Unit opens for first 15 patients
Unit opens for full capacity
Days 0-5 Days 6-10
bull Online training on EMR platform
bull Shadowing staff on the non-Covid-19 SNF floor in the building
bull Bedside training with experienced mentors from the LTACH unit
bull Practicing new EMR patient care skills
bull Ongoing training shadowing and mentorship opportunities as needed
Ochsnerrsquos phased SNF Covid-19 unit opening plan
pg 9 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Results
CASE STUDY
Results notes
The title of this page is ldquoResultsrdquo not ldquoResultrdquo since it should list all the results of the case Do not alter
The page should also use a combination of narrative and data
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Ochsner successfully converted a 28-bed IRF unit into a
Covid-19 SNF in just five days getting it up to full
capacity in just five more This allowed the hospital to
quickly discharge patients that had previously been
difficult to place The 28 beds in the unit enabled Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit at one of their
hospitals
In addition the change helped Covid-19 patients get the
therapy they needed to start their recovery and it gave
other SNFs in the area space to focus on infection control
for their current patients and staff Ochsner has been able
to discharge many of the patients from the unit directly
home Some continue to receive support through home
health care while others return to a nursing home after
testing negative for Covid-19
28 Number of Covid-19 SNF beds created
5 Number of days it took to convert the unit
pg 10 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Related content
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
ARTICLE
The Missing Piece of your Covid-19
Capacity Strategy Post-Acute Care Read now
ARTICLE
How 5 Hospitals are Helping Nursing Homes
Control Covid-19 Read now
ARTICLE
Guide Covid-19 Facility Planning by Patient
Cohort Read now
ARTICLE
7 Lessons on Discharge Planning during
Covid-19 from UW Medicine
Read now
pg 11 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
LEGAL CAVEAT
Advisory Board has made efforts to verify the accuracy of the information it provides to members This report relies on data obtained from many
sources however and Advisory Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon In addition Advisory Board is not in the business of giving legal medical accounting or other professional advice and its reports should not be construed as
professional advice In particular members should not rely on any legal commentary in this report as a basis for action or assume that any tactics described herein would be permitted by applicable law or appropriate for a given memberrsquos situation Members are advised to consult with
appropriate professionals concerning legal medical tax or accounting issues before implementing any of these tactics Neither Advisory Board nor its officers directors trustees employees and agents shall be liable for any claims liabilities or expenses relating to (a) any errors or
omissions in this report whether caused by Advisory Board or any of its employees or agents or sources or other third parties (b) any recommendation or graded ranking by Advisory Board or (c) failure of member and its employees and agents to abide by the terms set forth herein
Advisory Board and the ldquoArdquo logo are registered trademarks of The Advisory Board Company in the United States and other countr ies Members are not permitted to use these trademarks or any other trademark product name service name trade name and logo of Advisory Board without prior
written consent of Advisory Board All other trademarks product names service names trade names and logos used within these pages are the property of their respective holders Use of other company trademarks product names service names trade names and logos or images of the
same does not necessarily constitute (a) an endorsement by such company of Advisory Board and its products and services or (b) an
endorsement of the company or its products or services by Advisory Board Advisory Board is not affiliated with any such company
IMPORTANT Please read the following
Advisory Board has prepared this report for the exclusive use of its members Each member acknowledges and agrees that this report and
the information contained herein (collectively the ldquoReportrdquo) are confidential and proprietary to Advisory Board By accepting delivery of this Report each member agrees to abide by the terms as stated herein including the following
1 Advisory Board owns all right title and interest in and to this Report Except as stated herein no right license permiss ion or interest of any kind in this Report is intended to be given transferred to or acquired by a member Each member is authorized to use this Report only to the
extent expressly authorized herein
2 Each member shall not sell license republish or post online or otherwise this Report in part or in whole Each member shall not disseminate
or permit the use of and shall take reasonable precautions to prevent such dissemination or use of this Report by (a) any of its employees and agents (except as stated below) or (b) any third party
3 Each member may make this Report available solely to those of its employees and agents who (a) are registered for the workshop or
membership program of which this Report is a part (b) require access to this Report in order to learn from the information described herein
and (c) agree not to disclose this Report to other employees or agents or any third party Each member shall use and shall ensure that its employees and agents use this Report for its internal use only Each member may make a limited number of copies solely as adequate for use
by its employees and agents in accordance with the terms herein
4 Each member shall not remove from this Report any confidential markings copyright notices andor other similar indicia herein
5 Each member is responsible for any breach of its obligations as stated herein by any of its employees or agents
6 If a member is unwilling to abide by any of the foregoing obligations then such member shall promptly return this Report and all copies thereof
to Advisory Board
Mandatory
This page for the credits
legal caveat w ill be at the
end of the document just
before the back page
Post-Acute Care Collaborative
Project director Carolyn Buys
buyscadvisorycom
Research team Aliki Karnavas
Program Leadership Jared Landis Managing Director
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Monica Westhead Practice Manager
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom
pg 5 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Identify underutilized space that can be used to fill specific system needs 01
At the peak of the pandemic most SNFs that Ochsner worked with were not
accepting Covid-19 patients into their facilities causing a backup of Covid-19
patients in need of SNF care at area hospitals At the same time Ochsnerrsquos
rehabilitation floors at their West Campus building had excess capacity due to
canceled elective surgeries and reduced trauma patients as a result of
stay-at-home orders
The IRF unit at Ochsnerrsquos West Campus building spans two floors and holds 56
beds Because of reduced admissions across the unit Ochsner decided to
repurpose one floor to manage Covid-19 patients in need of therapy after
hospital discharge
The admissions criteria for the fifth floor unit is the same as it would be for any
SNF with one exception the patients all had to be Covid-19 positive The unit
focuses exclusively on therapymdashphysical occupational speech and or
respiratorymdashand does not accept patients in need of custodial care only The
third floor of the building continues to operate as a SNF but does not accept
patients who have tested positive for Covid-19
Source Arora V and Fried J ldquoHow Will We Care For Coronavirus Patients After They Leave The Hospital By Building Postacute Care Surge Capacityrdquo Health Affairs Published April 13 2020
Expected demand for therapy services among Covid-19 patients
Covid-19 patients may require outpatient rehabilitation services 10 million
700000 Covid-19 patients may require inpatient short-stay rehabilitation
2x Number of average annual short-stay residents expected
pg 6 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread 02
Before accepting patients into the unit the first thing Ochsner had to do was
ensure the current patients on the floor could be discharged to another location
Because the unit was already low-volume they were able to transfer some
patients to the other IRF floor in the building while the remaining patients would
be discharge-ready by the time Ochsner planned to open the unit This allowed
Ochsner to dedicate an entire floor to Covid-19 caremdashminimizing the risk of
spreading infection to other rehab patients
Next because the IRF unit is a JV with another organization Ochsner had to
enter into an arrangement with their partners to lease all the beds on the floor
The JV partner temporarily delicensed their beds on the floor and Ochsner
temporarily expanded their SNF license to cover the 28 beds on that unit
Ochsner is fully assuming the cost of these lease payments and is receiving
reimbursement for the care they provide under the federal 1135 waivers
Finally Ochsner had to make changes to the physical space of the unit to
prepare for Covid-19 patients Fortunately the IRF floor that Ochsner moved
these patients into didnrsquot need many modifications for them to make the switch to
a Covid-19 SNF unit The only significant change the team had to make to the
floor was adding temporary walls to give staff space to safely don and doff PPE
pg 7 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands 03
Perhaps the most difficult part of Ochsnerrsquos process was securing and training
staff to manage the unit Ochsner had to both redeploy staff from other locations
within the system and train those staff to care for Covid-19 patients
Redeploying staff to meet urgent SNF unit needs
To manage the new patients coming in with
Covid-19 Ochsner primarily leaned on staff from
other facilities across the system that were
realizing reduced volumes For example because
Ochsner had also temporarily suspended
operation of its LTACH to make room for excess
med-surg patients Ochsner could redeploy those
staff to the Covid-19 SNF unit to assist with both
patient care and staff training
Phased admission process gives staff an opportunity to learn
To make the SNF unit a reality in just five days Ochsner had to educate unit
staff members on new policies and procedures quickly In addition to learning
how to care for Covid-19 SNF patient needs staff also had to learn how to
record information in their EMR system
Staff needed Primary source
Therapists Inpatient and outpatient therapy facilities
RNs LTACH
LPNs LTACH outpatient clinics
Patient care technicians
Outpatient clinics
Medical assistants Outpatient clinics
pg 8 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
No content above
this guide
PHASE IN ADMISSIONS TO GIVE STAFF TIME TO ADJUST TO NEW DEMANDS
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
To give new staff time to prepare Ochsner started by keeping the census of the
unit low for the first few days The first five days the unit was open the census
was held at around 15 patients This allowed staff an opportunity to shadow
more experienced team members take the time to learn the EMR and complete
online learning modules At the same time Ochsner was able to start offloading
patients to the unit earlier than they would have if they had waited for staff to get
fully up to speed
Unit opens for first 15 patients
Unit opens for full capacity
Days 0-5 Days 6-10
bull Online training on EMR platform
bull Shadowing staff on the non-Covid-19 SNF floor in the building
bull Bedside training with experienced mentors from the LTACH unit
bull Practicing new EMR patient care skills
bull Ongoing training shadowing and mentorship opportunities as needed
Ochsnerrsquos phased SNF Covid-19 unit opening plan
pg 9 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Results
CASE STUDY
Results notes
The title of this page is ldquoResultsrdquo not ldquoResultrdquo since it should list all the results of the case Do not alter
The page should also use a combination of narrative and data
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Ochsner successfully converted a 28-bed IRF unit into a
Covid-19 SNF in just five days getting it up to full
capacity in just five more This allowed the hospital to
quickly discharge patients that had previously been
difficult to place The 28 beds in the unit enabled Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit at one of their
hospitals
In addition the change helped Covid-19 patients get the
therapy they needed to start their recovery and it gave
other SNFs in the area space to focus on infection control
for their current patients and staff Ochsner has been able
to discharge many of the patients from the unit directly
home Some continue to receive support through home
health care while others return to a nursing home after
testing negative for Covid-19
28 Number of Covid-19 SNF beds created
5 Number of days it took to convert the unit
pg 10 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Related content
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
ARTICLE
The Missing Piece of your Covid-19
Capacity Strategy Post-Acute Care Read now
ARTICLE
How 5 Hospitals are Helping Nursing Homes
Control Covid-19 Read now
ARTICLE
Guide Covid-19 Facility Planning by Patient
Cohort Read now
ARTICLE
7 Lessons on Discharge Planning during
Covid-19 from UW Medicine
Read now
pg 11 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
LEGAL CAVEAT
Advisory Board has made efforts to verify the accuracy of the information it provides to members This report relies on data obtained from many
sources however and Advisory Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon In addition Advisory Board is not in the business of giving legal medical accounting or other professional advice and its reports should not be construed as
professional advice In particular members should not rely on any legal commentary in this report as a basis for action or assume that any tactics described herein would be permitted by applicable law or appropriate for a given memberrsquos situation Members are advised to consult with
appropriate professionals concerning legal medical tax or accounting issues before implementing any of these tactics Neither Advisory Board nor its officers directors trustees employees and agents shall be liable for any claims liabilities or expenses relating to (a) any errors or
omissions in this report whether caused by Advisory Board or any of its employees or agents or sources or other third parties (b) any recommendation or graded ranking by Advisory Board or (c) failure of member and its employees and agents to abide by the terms set forth herein
Advisory Board and the ldquoArdquo logo are registered trademarks of The Advisory Board Company in the United States and other countr ies Members are not permitted to use these trademarks or any other trademark product name service name trade name and logo of Advisory Board without prior
written consent of Advisory Board All other trademarks product names service names trade names and logos used within these pages are the property of their respective holders Use of other company trademarks product names service names trade names and logos or images of the
same does not necessarily constitute (a) an endorsement by such company of Advisory Board and its products and services or (b) an
endorsement of the company or its products or services by Advisory Board Advisory Board is not affiliated with any such company
IMPORTANT Please read the following
Advisory Board has prepared this report for the exclusive use of its members Each member acknowledges and agrees that this report and
the information contained herein (collectively the ldquoReportrdquo) are confidential and proprietary to Advisory Board By accepting delivery of this Report each member agrees to abide by the terms as stated herein including the following
1 Advisory Board owns all right title and interest in and to this Report Except as stated herein no right license permiss ion or interest of any kind in this Report is intended to be given transferred to or acquired by a member Each member is authorized to use this Report only to the
extent expressly authorized herein
2 Each member shall not sell license republish or post online or otherwise this Report in part or in whole Each member shall not disseminate
or permit the use of and shall take reasonable precautions to prevent such dissemination or use of this Report by (a) any of its employees and agents (except as stated below) or (b) any third party
3 Each member may make this Report available solely to those of its employees and agents who (a) are registered for the workshop or
membership program of which this Report is a part (b) require access to this Report in order to learn from the information described herein
and (c) agree not to disclose this Report to other employees or agents or any third party Each member shall use and shall ensure that its employees and agents use this Report for its internal use only Each member may make a limited number of copies solely as adequate for use
by its employees and agents in accordance with the terms herein
4 Each member shall not remove from this Report any confidential markings copyright notices andor other similar indicia herein
5 Each member is responsible for any breach of its obligations as stated herein by any of its employees or agents
6 If a member is unwilling to abide by any of the foregoing obligations then such member shall promptly return this Report and all copies thereof
to Advisory Board
Mandatory
This page for the credits
legal caveat w ill be at the
end of the document just
before the back page
Post-Acute Care Collaborative
Project director Carolyn Buys
buyscadvisorycom
Research team Aliki Karnavas
Program Leadership Jared Landis Managing Director
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Monica Westhead Practice Manager
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom
pg 6 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Prepare the unit to minimize risk of infection spread 02
Before accepting patients into the unit the first thing Ochsner had to do was
ensure the current patients on the floor could be discharged to another location
Because the unit was already low-volume they were able to transfer some
patients to the other IRF floor in the building while the remaining patients would
be discharge-ready by the time Ochsner planned to open the unit This allowed
Ochsner to dedicate an entire floor to Covid-19 caremdashminimizing the risk of
spreading infection to other rehab patients
Next because the IRF unit is a JV with another organization Ochsner had to
enter into an arrangement with their partners to lease all the beds on the floor
The JV partner temporarily delicensed their beds on the floor and Ochsner
temporarily expanded their SNF license to cover the 28 beds on that unit
Ochsner is fully assuming the cost of these lease payments and is receiving
reimbursement for the care they provide under the federal 1135 waivers
Finally Ochsner had to make changes to the physical space of the unit to
prepare for Covid-19 patients Fortunately the IRF floor that Ochsner moved
these patients into didnrsquot need many modifications for them to make the switch to
a Covid-19 SNF unit The only significant change the team had to make to the
floor was adding temporary walls to give staff space to safely don and doff PPE
pg 7 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands 03
Perhaps the most difficult part of Ochsnerrsquos process was securing and training
staff to manage the unit Ochsner had to both redeploy staff from other locations
within the system and train those staff to care for Covid-19 patients
Redeploying staff to meet urgent SNF unit needs
To manage the new patients coming in with
Covid-19 Ochsner primarily leaned on staff from
other facilities across the system that were
realizing reduced volumes For example because
Ochsner had also temporarily suspended
operation of its LTACH to make room for excess
med-surg patients Ochsner could redeploy those
staff to the Covid-19 SNF unit to assist with both
patient care and staff training
Phased admission process gives staff an opportunity to learn
To make the SNF unit a reality in just five days Ochsner had to educate unit
staff members on new policies and procedures quickly In addition to learning
how to care for Covid-19 SNF patient needs staff also had to learn how to
record information in their EMR system
Staff needed Primary source
Therapists Inpatient and outpatient therapy facilities
RNs LTACH
LPNs LTACH outpatient clinics
Patient care technicians
Outpatient clinics
Medical assistants Outpatient clinics
pg 8 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
No content above
this guide
PHASE IN ADMISSIONS TO GIVE STAFF TIME TO ADJUST TO NEW DEMANDS
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
To give new staff time to prepare Ochsner started by keeping the census of the
unit low for the first few days The first five days the unit was open the census
was held at around 15 patients This allowed staff an opportunity to shadow
more experienced team members take the time to learn the EMR and complete
online learning modules At the same time Ochsner was able to start offloading
patients to the unit earlier than they would have if they had waited for staff to get
fully up to speed
Unit opens for first 15 patients
Unit opens for full capacity
Days 0-5 Days 6-10
bull Online training on EMR platform
bull Shadowing staff on the non-Covid-19 SNF floor in the building
bull Bedside training with experienced mentors from the LTACH unit
bull Practicing new EMR patient care skills
bull Ongoing training shadowing and mentorship opportunities as needed
Ochsnerrsquos phased SNF Covid-19 unit opening plan
pg 9 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Results
CASE STUDY
Results notes
The title of this page is ldquoResultsrdquo not ldquoResultrdquo since it should list all the results of the case Do not alter
The page should also use a combination of narrative and data
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Ochsner successfully converted a 28-bed IRF unit into a
Covid-19 SNF in just five days getting it up to full
capacity in just five more This allowed the hospital to
quickly discharge patients that had previously been
difficult to place The 28 beds in the unit enabled Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit at one of their
hospitals
In addition the change helped Covid-19 patients get the
therapy they needed to start their recovery and it gave
other SNFs in the area space to focus on infection control
for their current patients and staff Ochsner has been able
to discharge many of the patients from the unit directly
home Some continue to receive support through home
health care while others return to a nursing home after
testing negative for Covid-19
28 Number of Covid-19 SNF beds created
5 Number of days it took to convert the unit
pg 10 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Related content
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
ARTICLE
The Missing Piece of your Covid-19
Capacity Strategy Post-Acute Care Read now
ARTICLE
How 5 Hospitals are Helping Nursing Homes
Control Covid-19 Read now
ARTICLE
Guide Covid-19 Facility Planning by Patient
Cohort Read now
ARTICLE
7 Lessons on Discharge Planning during
Covid-19 from UW Medicine
Read now
pg 11 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
LEGAL CAVEAT
Advisory Board has made efforts to verify the accuracy of the information it provides to members This report relies on data obtained from many
sources however and Advisory Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon In addition Advisory Board is not in the business of giving legal medical accounting or other professional advice and its reports should not be construed as
professional advice In particular members should not rely on any legal commentary in this report as a basis for action or assume that any tactics described herein would be permitted by applicable law or appropriate for a given memberrsquos situation Members are advised to consult with
appropriate professionals concerning legal medical tax or accounting issues before implementing any of these tactics Neither Advisory Board nor its officers directors trustees employees and agents shall be liable for any claims liabilities or expenses relating to (a) any errors or
omissions in this report whether caused by Advisory Board or any of its employees or agents or sources or other third parties (b) any recommendation or graded ranking by Advisory Board or (c) failure of member and its employees and agents to abide by the terms set forth herein
Advisory Board and the ldquoArdquo logo are registered trademarks of The Advisory Board Company in the United States and other countr ies Members are not permitted to use these trademarks or any other trademark product name service name trade name and logo of Advisory Board without prior
written consent of Advisory Board All other trademarks product names service names trade names and logos used within these pages are the property of their respective holders Use of other company trademarks product names service names trade names and logos or images of the
same does not necessarily constitute (a) an endorsement by such company of Advisory Board and its products and services or (b) an
endorsement of the company or its products or services by Advisory Board Advisory Board is not affiliated with any such company
IMPORTANT Please read the following
Advisory Board has prepared this report for the exclusive use of its members Each member acknowledges and agrees that this report and
the information contained herein (collectively the ldquoReportrdquo) are confidential and proprietary to Advisory Board By accepting delivery of this Report each member agrees to abide by the terms as stated herein including the following
1 Advisory Board owns all right title and interest in and to this Report Except as stated herein no right license permiss ion or interest of any kind in this Report is intended to be given transferred to or acquired by a member Each member is authorized to use this Report only to the
extent expressly authorized herein
2 Each member shall not sell license republish or post online or otherwise this Report in part or in whole Each member shall not disseminate
or permit the use of and shall take reasonable precautions to prevent such dissemination or use of this Report by (a) any of its employees and agents (except as stated below) or (b) any third party
3 Each member may make this Report available solely to those of its employees and agents who (a) are registered for the workshop or
membership program of which this Report is a part (b) require access to this Report in order to learn from the information described herein
and (c) agree not to disclose this Report to other employees or agents or any third party Each member shall use and shall ensure that its employees and agents use this Report for its internal use only Each member may make a limited number of copies solely as adequate for use
by its employees and agents in accordance with the terms herein
4 Each member shall not remove from this Report any confidential markings copyright notices andor other similar indicia herein
5 Each member is responsible for any breach of its obligations as stated herein by any of its employees or agents
6 If a member is unwilling to abide by any of the foregoing obligations then such member shall promptly return this Report and all copies thereof
to Advisory Board
Mandatory
This page for the credits
legal caveat w ill be at the
end of the document just
before the back page
Post-Acute Care Collaborative
Project director Carolyn Buys
buyscadvisorycom
Research team Aliki Karnavas
Program Leadership Jared Landis Managing Director
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Monica Westhead Practice Manager
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom
pg 7 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Phase in admissions to give staff time to adjust to new demands 03
Perhaps the most difficult part of Ochsnerrsquos process was securing and training
staff to manage the unit Ochsner had to both redeploy staff from other locations
within the system and train those staff to care for Covid-19 patients
Redeploying staff to meet urgent SNF unit needs
To manage the new patients coming in with
Covid-19 Ochsner primarily leaned on staff from
other facilities across the system that were
realizing reduced volumes For example because
Ochsner had also temporarily suspended
operation of its LTACH to make room for excess
med-surg patients Ochsner could redeploy those
staff to the Covid-19 SNF unit to assist with both
patient care and staff training
Phased admission process gives staff an opportunity to learn
To make the SNF unit a reality in just five days Ochsner had to educate unit
staff members on new policies and procedures quickly In addition to learning
how to care for Covid-19 SNF patient needs staff also had to learn how to
record information in their EMR system
Staff needed Primary source
Therapists Inpatient and outpatient therapy facilities
RNs LTACH
LPNs LTACH outpatient clinics
Patient care technicians
Outpatient clinics
Medical assistants Outpatient clinics
pg 8 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
No content above
this guide
PHASE IN ADMISSIONS TO GIVE STAFF TIME TO ADJUST TO NEW DEMANDS
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
To give new staff time to prepare Ochsner started by keeping the census of the
unit low for the first few days The first five days the unit was open the census
was held at around 15 patients This allowed staff an opportunity to shadow
more experienced team members take the time to learn the EMR and complete
online learning modules At the same time Ochsner was able to start offloading
patients to the unit earlier than they would have if they had waited for staff to get
fully up to speed
Unit opens for first 15 patients
Unit opens for full capacity
Days 0-5 Days 6-10
bull Online training on EMR platform
bull Shadowing staff on the non-Covid-19 SNF floor in the building
bull Bedside training with experienced mentors from the LTACH unit
bull Practicing new EMR patient care skills
bull Ongoing training shadowing and mentorship opportunities as needed
Ochsnerrsquos phased SNF Covid-19 unit opening plan
pg 9 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Results
CASE STUDY
Results notes
The title of this page is ldquoResultsrdquo not ldquoResultrdquo since it should list all the results of the case Do not alter
The page should also use a combination of narrative and data
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Ochsner successfully converted a 28-bed IRF unit into a
Covid-19 SNF in just five days getting it up to full
capacity in just five more This allowed the hospital to
quickly discharge patients that had previously been
difficult to place The 28 beds in the unit enabled Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit at one of their
hospitals
In addition the change helped Covid-19 patients get the
therapy they needed to start their recovery and it gave
other SNFs in the area space to focus on infection control
for their current patients and staff Ochsner has been able
to discharge many of the patients from the unit directly
home Some continue to receive support through home
health care while others return to a nursing home after
testing negative for Covid-19
28 Number of Covid-19 SNF beds created
5 Number of days it took to convert the unit
pg 10 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Related content
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
ARTICLE
The Missing Piece of your Covid-19
Capacity Strategy Post-Acute Care Read now
ARTICLE
How 5 Hospitals are Helping Nursing Homes
Control Covid-19 Read now
ARTICLE
Guide Covid-19 Facility Planning by Patient
Cohort Read now
ARTICLE
7 Lessons on Discharge Planning during
Covid-19 from UW Medicine
Read now
pg 11 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
LEGAL CAVEAT
Advisory Board has made efforts to verify the accuracy of the information it provides to members This report relies on data obtained from many
sources however and Advisory Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon In addition Advisory Board is not in the business of giving legal medical accounting or other professional advice and its reports should not be construed as
professional advice In particular members should not rely on any legal commentary in this report as a basis for action or assume that any tactics described herein would be permitted by applicable law or appropriate for a given memberrsquos situation Members are advised to consult with
appropriate professionals concerning legal medical tax or accounting issues before implementing any of these tactics Neither Advisory Board nor its officers directors trustees employees and agents shall be liable for any claims liabilities or expenses relating to (a) any errors or
omissions in this report whether caused by Advisory Board or any of its employees or agents or sources or other third parties (b) any recommendation or graded ranking by Advisory Board or (c) failure of member and its employees and agents to abide by the terms set forth herein
Advisory Board and the ldquoArdquo logo are registered trademarks of The Advisory Board Company in the United States and other countr ies Members are not permitted to use these trademarks or any other trademark product name service name trade name and logo of Advisory Board without prior
written consent of Advisory Board All other trademarks product names service names trade names and logos used within these pages are the property of their respective holders Use of other company trademarks product names service names trade names and logos or images of the
same does not necessarily constitute (a) an endorsement by such company of Advisory Board and its products and services or (b) an
endorsement of the company or its products or services by Advisory Board Advisory Board is not affiliated with any such company
IMPORTANT Please read the following
Advisory Board has prepared this report for the exclusive use of its members Each member acknowledges and agrees that this report and
the information contained herein (collectively the ldquoReportrdquo) are confidential and proprietary to Advisory Board By accepting delivery of this Report each member agrees to abide by the terms as stated herein including the following
1 Advisory Board owns all right title and interest in and to this Report Except as stated herein no right license permiss ion or interest of any kind in this Report is intended to be given transferred to or acquired by a member Each member is authorized to use this Report only to the
extent expressly authorized herein
2 Each member shall not sell license republish or post online or otherwise this Report in part or in whole Each member shall not disseminate
or permit the use of and shall take reasonable precautions to prevent such dissemination or use of this Report by (a) any of its employees and agents (except as stated below) or (b) any third party
3 Each member may make this Report available solely to those of its employees and agents who (a) are registered for the workshop or
membership program of which this Report is a part (b) require access to this Report in order to learn from the information described herein
and (c) agree not to disclose this Report to other employees or agents or any third party Each member shall use and shall ensure that its employees and agents use this Report for its internal use only Each member may make a limited number of copies solely as adequate for use
by its employees and agents in accordance with the terms herein
4 Each member shall not remove from this Report any confidential markings copyright notices andor other similar indicia herein
5 Each member is responsible for any breach of its obligations as stated herein by any of its employees or agents
6 If a member is unwilling to abide by any of the foregoing obligations then such member shall promptly return this Report and all copies thereof
to Advisory Board
Mandatory
This page for the credits
legal caveat w ill be at the
end of the document just
before the back page
Post-Acute Care Collaborative
Project director Carolyn Buys
buyscadvisorycom
Research team Aliki Karnavas
Program Leadership Jared Landis Managing Director
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Monica Westhead Practice Manager
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom
pg 8 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
No content above
this guide
PHASE IN ADMISSIONS TO GIVE STAFF TIME TO ADJUST TO NEW DEMANDS
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
To give new staff time to prepare Ochsner started by keeping the census of the
unit low for the first few days The first five days the unit was open the census
was held at around 15 patients This allowed staff an opportunity to shadow
more experienced team members take the time to learn the EMR and complete
online learning modules At the same time Ochsner was able to start offloading
patients to the unit earlier than they would have if they had waited for staff to get
fully up to speed
Unit opens for first 15 patients
Unit opens for full capacity
Days 0-5 Days 6-10
bull Online training on EMR platform
bull Shadowing staff on the non-Covid-19 SNF floor in the building
bull Bedside training with experienced mentors from the LTACH unit
bull Practicing new EMR patient care skills
bull Ongoing training shadowing and mentorship opportunities as needed
Ochsnerrsquos phased SNF Covid-19 unit opening plan
pg 9 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Results
CASE STUDY
Results notes
The title of this page is ldquoResultsrdquo not ldquoResultrdquo since it should list all the results of the case Do not alter
The page should also use a combination of narrative and data
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Ochsner successfully converted a 28-bed IRF unit into a
Covid-19 SNF in just five days getting it up to full
capacity in just five more This allowed the hospital to
quickly discharge patients that had previously been
difficult to place The 28 beds in the unit enabled Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit at one of their
hospitals
In addition the change helped Covid-19 patients get the
therapy they needed to start their recovery and it gave
other SNFs in the area space to focus on infection control
for their current patients and staff Ochsner has been able
to discharge many of the patients from the unit directly
home Some continue to receive support through home
health care while others return to a nursing home after
testing negative for Covid-19
28 Number of Covid-19 SNF beds created
5 Number of days it took to convert the unit
pg 10 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Related content
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
ARTICLE
The Missing Piece of your Covid-19
Capacity Strategy Post-Acute Care Read now
ARTICLE
How 5 Hospitals are Helping Nursing Homes
Control Covid-19 Read now
ARTICLE
Guide Covid-19 Facility Planning by Patient
Cohort Read now
ARTICLE
7 Lessons on Discharge Planning during
Covid-19 from UW Medicine
Read now
pg 11 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
LEGAL CAVEAT
Advisory Board has made efforts to verify the accuracy of the information it provides to members This report relies on data obtained from many
sources however and Advisory Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon In addition Advisory Board is not in the business of giving legal medical accounting or other professional advice and its reports should not be construed as
professional advice In particular members should not rely on any legal commentary in this report as a basis for action or assume that any tactics described herein would be permitted by applicable law or appropriate for a given memberrsquos situation Members are advised to consult with
appropriate professionals concerning legal medical tax or accounting issues before implementing any of these tactics Neither Advisory Board nor its officers directors trustees employees and agents shall be liable for any claims liabilities or expenses relating to (a) any errors or
omissions in this report whether caused by Advisory Board or any of its employees or agents or sources or other third parties (b) any recommendation or graded ranking by Advisory Board or (c) failure of member and its employees and agents to abide by the terms set forth herein
Advisory Board and the ldquoArdquo logo are registered trademarks of The Advisory Board Company in the United States and other countr ies Members are not permitted to use these trademarks or any other trademark product name service name trade name and logo of Advisory Board without prior
written consent of Advisory Board All other trademarks product names service names trade names and logos used within these pages are the property of their respective holders Use of other company trademarks product names service names trade names and logos or images of the
same does not necessarily constitute (a) an endorsement by such company of Advisory Board and its products and services or (b) an
endorsement of the company or its products or services by Advisory Board Advisory Board is not affiliated with any such company
IMPORTANT Please read the following
Advisory Board has prepared this report for the exclusive use of its members Each member acknowledges and agrees that this report and
the information contained herein (collectively the ldquoReportrdquo) are confidential and proprietary to Advisory Board By accepting delivery of this Report each member agrees to abide by the terms as stated herein including the following
1 Advisory Board owns all right title and interest in and to this Report Except as stated herein no right license permiss ion or interest of any kind in this Report is intended to be given transferred to or acquired by a member Each member is authorized to use this Report only to the
extent expressly authorized herein
2 Each member shall not sell license republish or post online or otherwise this Report in part or in whole Each member shall not disseminate
or permit the use of and shall take reasonable precautions to prevent such dissemination or use of this Report by (a) any of its employees and agents (except as stated below) or (b) any third party
3 Each member may make this Report available solely to those of its employees and agents who (a) are registered for the workshop or
membership program of which this Report is a part (b) require access to this Report in order to learn from the information described herein
and (c) agree not to disclose this Report to other employees or agents or any third party Each member shall use and shall ensure that its employees and agents use this Report for its internal use only Each member may make a limited number of copies solely as adequate for use
by its employees and agents in accordance with the terms herein
4 Each member shall not remove from this Report any confidential markings copyright notices andor other similar indicia herein
5 Each member is responsible for any breach of its obligations as stated herein by any of its employees or agents
6 If a member is unwilling to abide by any of the foregoing obligations then such member shall promptly return this Report and all copies thereof
to Advisory Board
Mandatory
This page for the credits
legal caveat w ill be at the
end of the document just
before the back page
Post-Acute Care Collaborative
Project director Carolyn Buys
buyscadvisorycom
Research team Aliki Karnavas
Program Leadership Jared Landis Managing Director
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Monica Westhead Practice Manager
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom
pg 9 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Results
CASE STUDY
Results notes
The title of this page is ldquoResultsrdquo not ldquoResultrdquo since it should list all the results of the case Do not alter
The page should also use a combination of narrative and data
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Ochsner successfully converted a 28-bed IRF unit into a
Covid-19 SNF in just five days getting it up to full
capacity in just five more This allowed the hospital to
quickly discharge patients that had previously been
difficult to place The 28 beds in the unit enabled Ochsner
to clear out an entire med-surg unit at one of their
hospitals
In addition the change helped Covid-19 patients get the
therapy they needed to start their recovery and it gave
other SNFs in the area space to focus on infection control
for their current patients and staff Ochsner has been able
to discharge many of the patients from the unit directly
home Some continue to receive support through home
health care while others return to a nursing home after
testing negative for Covid-19
28 Number of Covid-19 SNF beds created
5 Number of days it took to convert the unit
pg 10 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Related content
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
ARTICLE
The Missing Piece of your Covid-19
Capacity Strategy Post-Acute Care Read now
ARTICLE
How 5 Hospitals are Helping Nursing Homes
Control Covid-19 Read now
ARTICLE
Guide Covid-19 Facility Planning by Patient
Cohort Read now
ARTICLE
7 Lessons on Discharge Planning during
Covid-19 from UW Medicine
Read now
pg 11 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
LEGAL CAVEAT
Advisory Board has made efforts to verify the accuracy of the information it provides to members This report relies on data obtained from many
sources however and Advisory Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon In addition Advisory Board is not in the business of giving legal medical accounting or other professional advice and its reports should not be construed as
professional advice In particular members should not rely on any legal commentary in this report as a basis for action or assume that any tactics described herein would be permitted by applicable law or appropriate for a given memberrsquos situation Members are advised to consult with
appropriate professionals concerning legal medical tax or accounting issues before implementing any of these tactics Neither Advisory Board nor its officers directors trustees employees and agents shall be liable for any claims liabilities or expenses relating to (a) any errors or
omissions in this report whether caused by Advisory Board or any of its employees or agents or sources or other third parties (b) any recommendation or graded ranking by Advisory Board or (c) failure of member and its employees and agents to abide by the terms set forth herein
Advisory Board and the ldquoArdquo logo are registered trademarks of The Advisory Board Company in the United States and other countr ies Members are not permitted to use these trademarks or any other trademark product name service name trade name and logo of Advisory Board without prior
written consent of Advisory Board All other trademarks product names service names trade names and logos used within these pages are the property of their respective holders Use of other company trademarks product names service names trade names and logos or images of the
same does not necessarily constitute (a) an endorsement by such company of Advisory Board and its products and services or (b) an
endorsement of the company or its products or services by Advisory Board Advisory Board is not affiliated with any such company
IMPORTANT Please read the following
Advisory Board has prepared this report for the exclusive use of its members Each member acknowledges and agrees that this report and
the information contained herein (collectively the ldquoReportrdquo) are confidential and proprietary to Advisory Board By accepting delivery of this Report each member agrees to abide by the terms as stated herein including the following
1 Advisory Board owns all right title and interest in and to this Report Except as stated herein no right license permiss ion or interest of any kind in this Report is intended to be given transferred to or acquired by a member Each member is authorized to use this Report only to the
extent expressly authorized herein
2 Each member shall not sell license republish or post online or otherwise this Report in part or in whole Each member shall not disseminate
or permit the use of and shall take reasonable precautions to prevent such dissemination or use of this Report by (a) any of its employees and agents (except as stated below) or (b) any third party
3 Each member may make this Report available solely to those of its employees and agents who (a) are registered for the workshop or
membership program of which this Report is a part (b) require access to this Report in order to learn from the information described herein
and (c) agree not to disclose this Report to other employees or agents or any third party Each member shall use and shall ensure that its employees and agents use this Report for its internal use only Each member may make a limited number of copies solely as adequate for use
by its employees and agents in accordance with the terms herein
4 Each member shall not remove from this Report any confidential markings copyright notices andor other similar indicia herein
5 Each member is responsible for any breach of its obligations as stated herein by any of its employees or agents
6 If a member is unwilling to abide by any of the foregoing obligations then such member shall promptly return this Report and all copies thereof
to Advisory Board
Mandatory
This page for the credits
legal caveat w ill be at the
end of the document just
before the back page
Post-Acute Care Collaborative
Project director Carolyn Buys
buyscadvisorycom
Research team Aliki Karnavas
Program Leadership Jared Landis Managing Director
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Monica Westhead Practice Manager
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom
pg 10 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
Related content
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
ARTICLE
The Missing Piece of your Covid-19
Capacity Strategy Post-Acute Care Read now
ARTICLE
How 5 Hospitals are Helping Nursing Homes
Control Covid-19 Read now
ARTICLE
Guide Covid-19 Facility Planning by Patient
Cohort Read now
ARTICLE
7 Lessons on Discharge Planning during
Covid-19 from UW Medicine
Read now
pg 11 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
LEGAL CAVEAT
Advisory Board has made efforts to verify the accuracy of the information it provides to members This report relies on data obtained from many
sources however and Advisory Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon In addition Advisory Board is not in the business of giving legal medical accounting or other professional advice and its reports should not be construed as
professional advice In particular members should not rely on any legal commentary in this report as a basis for action or assume that any tactics described herein would be permitted by applicable law or appropriate for a given memberrsquos situation Members are advised to consult with
appropriate professionals concerning legal medical tax or accounting issues before implementing any of these tactics Neither Advisory Board nor its officers directors trustees employees and agents shall be liable for any claims liabilities or expenses relating to (a) any errors or
omissions in this report whether caused by Advisory Board or any of its employees or agents or sources or other third parties (b) any recommendation or graded ranking by Advisory Board or (c) failure of member and its employees and agents to abide by the terms set forth herein
Advisory Board and the ldquoArdquo logo are registered trademarks of The Advisory Board Company in the United States and other countr ies Members are not permitted to use these trademarks or any other trademark product name service name trade name and logo of Advisory Board without prior
written consent of Advisory Board All other trademarks product names service names trade names and logos used within these pages are the property of their respective holders Use of other company trademarks product names service names trade names and logos or images of the
same does not necessarily constitute (a) an endorsement by such company of Advisory Board and its products and services or (b) an
endorsement of the company or its products or services by Advisory Board Advisory Board is not affiliated with any such company
IMPORTANT Please read the following
Advisory Board has prepared this report for the exclusive use of its members Each member acknowledges and agrees that this report and
the information contained herein (collectively the ldquoReportrdquo) are confidential and proprietary to Advisory Board By accepting delivery of this Report each member agrees to abide by the terms as stated herein including the following
1 Advisory Board owns all right title and interest in and to this Report Except as stated herein no right license permiss ion or interest of any kind in this Report is intended to be given transferred to or acquired by a member Each member is authorized to use this Report only to the
extent expressly authorized herein
2 Each member shall not sell license republish or post online or otherwise this Report in part or in whole Each member shall not disseminate
or permit the use of and shall take reasonable precautions to prevent such dissemination or use of this Report by (a) any of its employees and agents (except as stated below) or (b) any third party
3 Each member may make this Report available solely to those of its employees and agents who (a) are registered for the workshop or
membership program of which this Report is a part (b) require access to this Report in order to learn from the information described herein
and (c) agree not to disclose this Report to other employees or agents or any third party Each member shall use and shall ensure that its employees and agents use this Report for its internal use only Each member may make a limited number of copies solely as adequate for use
by its employees and agents in accordance with the terms herein
4 Each member shall not remove from this Report any confidential markings copyright notices andor other similar indicia herein
5 Each member is responsible for any breach of its obligations as stated herein by any of its employees or agents
6 If a member is unwilling to abide by any of the foregoing obligations then such member shall promptly return this Report and all copies thereof
to Advisory Board
Mandatory
This page for the credits
legal caveat w ill be at the
end of the document just
before the back page
Post-Acute Care Collaborative
Project director Carolyn Buys
buyscadvisorycom
Research team Aliki Karnavas
Program Leadership Jared Landis Managing Director
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Monica Westhead Practice Manager
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom
pg 11 copy 2020 Advisory Board bull All rights reserved
CASE STUDY
LEGAL CAVEAT
Advisory Board has made efforts to verify the accuracy of the information it provides to members This report relies on data obtained from many
sources however and Advisory Board cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon In addition Advisory Board is not in the business of giving legal medical accounting or other professional advice and its reports should not be construed as
professional advice In particular members should not rely on any legal commentary in this report as a basis for action or assume that any tactics described herein would be permitted by applicable law or appropriate for a given memberrsquos situation Members are advised to consult with
appropriate professionals concerning legal medical tax or accounting issues before implementing any of these tactics Neither Advisory Board nor its officers directors trustees employees and agents shall be liable for any claims liabilities or expenses relating to (a) any errors or
omissions in this report whether caused by Advisory Board or any of its employees or agents or sources or other third parties (b) any recommendation or graded ranking by Advisory Board or (c) failure of member and its employees and agents to abide by the terms set forth herein
Advisory Board and the ldquoArdquo logo are registered trademarks of The Advisory Board Company in the United States and other countr ies Members are not permitted to use these trademarks or any other trademark product name service name trade name and logo of Advisory Board without prior
written consent of Advisory Board All other trademarks product names service names trade names and logos used within these pages are the property of their respective holders Use of other company trademarks product names service names trade names and logos or images of the
same does not necessarily constitute (a) an endorsement by such company of Advisory Board and its products and services or (b) an
endorsement of the company or its products or services by Advisory Board Advisory Board is not affiliated with any such company
IMPORTANT Please read the following
Advisory Board has prepared this report for the exclusive use of its members Each member acknowledges and agrees that this report and
the information contained herein (collectively the ldquoReportrdquo) are confidential and proprietary to Advisory Board By accepting delivery of this Report each member agrees to abide by the terms as stated herein including the following
1 Advisory Board owns all right title and interest in and to this Report Except as stated herein no right license permiss ion or interest of any kind in this Report is intended to be given transferred to or acquired by a member Each member is authorized to use this Report only to the
extent expressly authorized herein
2 Each member shall not sell license republish or post online or otherwise this Report in part or in whole Each member shall not disseminate
or permit the use of and shall take reasonable precautions to prevent such dissemination or use of this Report by (a) any of its employees and agents (except as stated below) or (b) any third party
3 Each member may make this Report available solely to those of its employees and agents who (a) are registered for the workshop or
membership program of which this Report is a part (b) require access to this Report in order to learn from the information described herein
and (c) agree not to disclose this Report to other employees or agents or any third party Each member shall use and shall ensure that its employees and agents use this Report for its internal use only Each member may make a limited number of copies solely as adequate for use
by its employees and agents in accordance with the terms herein
4 Each member shall not remove from this Report any confidential markings copyright notices andor other similar indicia herein
5 Each member is responsible for any breach of its obligations as stated herein by any of its employees or agents
6 If a member is unwilling to abide by any of the foregoing obligations then such member shall promptly return this Report and all copies thereof
to Advisory Board
Mandatory
This page for the credits
legal caveat w ill be at the
end of the document just
before the back page
Post-Acute Care Collaborative
Project director Carolyn Buys
buyscadvisorycom
Research team Aliki Karnavas
Program Leadership Jared Landis Managing Director
How Ochsner Health Created a Covid-19 SNF Unit in Five Days
Monica Westhead Practice Manager
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom
655 New York Avenue NW Washington DC 20001 202-266-5600 advisorycom