key: cord-0891429-hve3zbf9
authors: Tai, Shu‐Yu; Hsiao, Chia‐Li; Lee, Chun‐Ying
title: Home healthcare services in communities during COVID‐19: Protecting against and mitigating the pandemics in Taiwan
date: 2020-06-24
journal: Kaohsiung J Med Sci
DOI: 10.1002/kjm2.12247
sha: 29b11f3e4853184895ed5133546264efd9d7d7ed
doc_id: 891429
cord_uid: hve3zbf9

nan

National Health Insurance reimbursement policy: RUG-1 comprises patients needing only medical care or general nursing services; RUG-2 to RUG-4 include patients who need one, two, three or more types of skilled nursing services. 4 This population requires regular and longterm health services, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For RUG-1, alternative management options such as video consultations are advised. For patients in RUG-2 to RUG-4, who need skilled nursing services, some antiepidemic measures are suggested.

To protect HHC teams and other patients, all families and caregivers living with patients must be assessed based on their travel, occupation, contact, and cluster (TOCC) history. 5 

identifying the travel history of each person entering facilities and assessing their occupational history regarding potential encounters with people who traveled abroad. Their contact history must also be analyzed to identify people who may have visited a hospital in the past 2 weeks. Finally, during the community circulation phase, a history of encounters with potential clusters should be identified.

Few HHC services in Taiwan use dedicated vehicles for home visits.

Most HHC teams typically visit patients by taxi because of heavy traffic and parking problems during work hours. We suggest cooperating with fixed taxi drivers well trained in epidemic prevention measures, including monitoring daily body temperatures, maintaining personal hygiene, wearing masks, and cleaning their cars after transporting every visitor.

We highly suggest that patients receiving HHC be treated as people Because the COVID-19 pandemic has caused high case-fatality rates around the world, we have applied these principles to patients receiving HHC to minimize transmission between hospitals and communities and save lives within this high-risk population.

The authors declare no conflicts conflict of interest. 

World Health Organization

Updated understanding of the outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan

Relationship between home care service use and changes in the care needs level of Japanese elderly

Profile of long-term care recipients receiving home and community-based services and the factors that influence utilization in Taiwan

Taiwan timely identifies first imported case of 2019 novel coronavirus infection returning from Wuhan, China through onboard quarantine; Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) raises travel notice level for Wuhan, China to Level 3: Warning