Coronavirus News and Information
New COVID-19 Grant Program for Alabama Physicians
In response to our advocacy and recommendations, Governor Kay Ivey has allocated $35 million from Alabama’s federal coronavirus relief money to set up the grant program to help physicians, dentists, clinics, ambulance services, and other health care and emergency response providers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. On a first-come-first-serve basis, the state of Alabama will offer cash grants in an amount up to $15,000 (per practice) for Alabama health care and emergency response providers that meet eligibility requirements.
Coronavirus Relief Fund Information
Provider Grant Program Overview and Eligibility
COVID-19 Relief Grant Program Website
Click here for the presentation recording of our discussion with State Finance Director, Kelly Butler, who highlighted new opportunities for financial assistance through Governor Ivey’s Alabama Health Care and Emergency Response Providers grant program.
We also briefly explored the impact COVID-19 has had on Alabama medical practices, such as the increase in telemedicine and liability concerns for physicians, as shown through our recent survey.
Alabama medical practices hit hard by COVID
Whether in a hospital, surgery center or clinic, COVID-19 has drastically changed the care physicians are able to provide patients. Data from our recent survey of medical practices in Alabama shows just how the coronavirus has fundamentally altered Alabama’s healthcare delivery system and exposed policies that limit adaptive solutions.
The survey identified several key findings that could be detrimental to the delivery of healthcare in Alabama:
70% of survey respondents said COVID-19 has had a severe impact on practice finances, causing layoffs and furloughs and limiting access to care.
Nearly 60% reported patient volume reductions that have cut revenues by at least 50%.
More than 71% said they’re likely to continue providing telemedicine so long as insurers continue covering the services for patients.
More than 71% are concerned about the potential liability from lack of PPE and patients canceling or delaying procedures and other medical care.
View an op-ed from Medical Association President, Dr. John Meigs, and the entire survey report here.
JAMA: Effect of Remdesivir vs Standard Care in Patients With Moderate COVID-19
Question: Does remdesivir provide a benefit on clinical status for patients hospitalized with moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia?
Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients with moderate COVID-19, those randomized to a 10-day course of remdesivir did not have a statistically significant difference in clinical status compared with standard care at 11 days after initiation of treatment. Patients randomized to a 5-day course of remdesivir had a statistically significant difference in clinical status compared with standard care, but the difference was of uncertain clinical importance.
View the full results of this study on JAMA.
MMWR: Associated Deaths Among Persons Aged <21 Years — United States
During February 12–July 31, 2020, a total of 391,814 cases of COVID-19 and MIS-C (representing approximately 8% of all reported cases) and 121 deaths (approximately 0.08% of all deaths) were identified among persons aged <21 years in the United States. Four important findings were identified. First, although Hispanic, Black, and AI/AN persons represent 41% of the U.S. population aged <21 years, these groups accounted for approximately 75% of deaths in persons aged <21 years. Second, deaths were more prevalent among males and among persons aged 10–20 years; young adults aged 18–20 years accounted for nearly half of all deaths in this population. Third, 75% of decedents had at least one underlying condition, and 45% had two or more underlying conditions. Fourth, a substantial proportion of out-of-hospital deaths in association with SARS-CoV-2 infection occurred among all age groups in this analysis. Read more from the CDC on MMWR.
Quick Resources
ADPH Updates:
General Hotline: 1-800-270-7268
Testing Hotline: 1-888-264-2256
AL Pharmacy Updates:
COVID Maps & Data:
Financial Tools:
Resources tailored to your setting
Specialty Physicians
- ACS: Local Resumption of Elective Surgery Guidance
- Coronavirus Toolkit for Managing Your Independent Primary Care Practice
- ACOG Practice Advisory: Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19)
- ACEP PPE Updates – What You Need to Know
- Information for Pediatric Providers
- Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) Requirements and Implications Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019
Clinical Care
- Interim Clinical Guidance for Management of Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Infection
- Guidance for Infection Control Prevention: FAQs for Patient Triage, Placement and Hospital Discharge
- Strategies to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 in Long-Term Care Facilities
- What Health Care Personnel Should Know about Caring for Patients with Confirmed or Possible Infection
- Preparedness Checklist for Transport and Arrival of Patients With Confirmed or Possible COVID-19
Practice Materials
- AMA Physician Practice Guide to Reopening
- Steps Health Care Facilities Can Take Now to Prepare for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
- Get Your Clinic Ready for Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- CDC: Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of PPE
- AMA CPT COVID-19 Codes and Descriptions for Testing
- How to avoid COVID-19 infection at work: tips from an infectious disease physician
COVID-19 News
Stay Up to Date on All Things Coronavirus
- Montgomery City Council votes down mask ordinance, sends doctors out in disgust
- Alabama breaks single-day coronavirus record four straight days
- UAB announces temporary expense reduction strategies due to COVID-19
- How Profit and Incompetence Delayed N95 Masks While People Died at the VA
- Health care workers on front lines during COVID-19 crisis
- North Alabama Doctors Adjust to New Way of Seeing Patients
- “Expect a second wave:” What lifting restrictions too soon could look like
- Coronavirus pushes telemedicine efforts, access in Alabama
- Doctors struggle to pay bills in pandemic and telemedicine isn’t saving them
- Former Decatur doctor leads state’s fight against COVID-19
- Alabama Medical Association president: Stay home, save lives
- COVID-19 Highlights Need to Lessen Restrictions on Rural Medical Care
- Health care officials praise stay-at-home order
- COVID-19 highlights need to lessen restrictions on rural medical care
- State health officer talks coronavirus prep, potential surge. ‘We really need for people to stay home’
- Airbus donates face masks to Alabama health care workers
- Ivey waives certain regulations for health care professionals, releases some probation and parole violators, makes other updates to State Health Order
- As COVID-19 cases increase, medical staffing shortages a concern
- Alabama reports first coronavirus death as cases near 400
- First death from COVID-19 reported in Alabama
- 60 COVID-19 patients hospitalized at UAB, more than half on ventilators
- Birmingham woman shares update during Coronavirus recovery at UAB
- Alabama Hospital Association CEO talks COVID-19 impact on health care
- Ivey: No shelter-in-place order needed for state right now
- ADPH establishes statewide hotline and direct e-mail for COVID-19 information
- Anonymous donor gives 100,000 pieces of protective medical equipment to Alabama health care
- State health officer says some Alabama hospitals are nearing capacity
- Birmingham City Council to vote on “Stay At Home” ordinance amid COVID-19 crisis
- State Health Officer issues mandatory health orders due to risks caused by COVID-19
- Huntsville Hospital setting up drive-through site for COVID-19 testing
- UAB infectious disease expert tests positive for COVID-19
- Supplemental State of Emergency: Coronavirus COVID-19
- 4 reasons Alabama lags behind on coronavirus testing
- State Health Officer issues mandatory health orders for five counties surrounding Jefferson County due to risks caused by COVID-19
- First COVID-19 case confirmed in Madison County
- ADPH offers new recommendations regarding public gatherings in response to COVID-19
- Declaration of a State of Emergency: Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- The Small-Business Die-Off Is Here
- This is where all 50 states stand on reopening
- Only 1 Percent of the Population has Been Tested
- Coronavirus Death in California Came Weeks Before First Known U.S. Death
- Testing Falls Woefully Short as Trump Seeks an End to Stay-at-Home Orders
- CMS to allow providers to practice at top of license, across states
- NYT: Coronavirus Was Slow to Spread to Rural America. Not Anymore.
- New York Times: Coronavirus Live Updates
- ‘I Do Fear for My Staff,’ a Doctor Said. He Lost His Job.
- Thousands of US medical workers furloughed, laid off as routine patient visits drop during coronavirus pandemic
- More than 3 million file U.S. unemployment claims, the most ever in a week
- Clinicians Struggle With PPE Shortages
- Martha Roby: COVID-19 Update
- Top Pentagon officials estimate coronavirus crisis could last months
- Physicians may no longer need a new license to cross state lines
- DEA Okays Telehealth to Prescribe Opioids Amid COVID-19 Emergency
- American Hospital Capacity And Projected Need for COVID-19 Patient Care
- FAQs on Shortages of Surgical Masks and Gowns
- “This is not the bat’s fault”: A disease expert explains where the coronavirus likely comes from
- Why do viruses often come from bats? A discussion with your friendly neighborhood virologist
- Substantial undocumented infection facilitates the rapid dissemination of novel coronavirus
- Profile of a Killer Virus
- Risk Perception Through the Lens of Politics in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic
- COVID-19: The CIDRAP Viewpoint
- COVID-19 No Worse Than the Flu? Hardly
- What Antibody Studies Can Tell You — and More Importantly, What They Can’t
- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection in Children and Adolescents
- First confirmed detection of SARS-CoV-2 in untreated wastewater in Australia: A proof of concept for the wastewater surveillance of COVID-19 in the community
- Ending coronavirus lockdowns will be a dangerous process of trial and error
- Coronavirus hot spots erupt in nation’s high-risk communities
- Novel Coronavirus and Old Lessons — Preparing the Health System for the Pandemic
- Critical Supply Shortages — The Need for Ventilators and Personal Protective Equipment during the Covid-19 Pandemic
- The Toughest Triage — Allocating Ventilators in a Pandemic
- FDA: Investigational COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma – Emergency INDs
- Here’s How Many People Have the Coronavirus in Your State
- Study suggests new coronavirus may remain on surfaces for days
- No Evidence Found for SARS-CoV-2 Vertical Transmission to Fetus
- Covid-19: ibuprofen should not be used for managing symptoms, say doctors and scientists
- FDA to Study Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19
- COVID-19 in a Long-Term Care Facility
- Severe Outcomes Among Patients with Coronavirus Disease (03/19/20)
- Estimating clinical severity of COVID-19 from transmission dynamics in Wuhan, China (03/19/20)
- Covid-19 — The Search for Effective Therapy (03/18/20)
- A Trial of Lopinavir–Ritonavir in Adults Hospitalized with Severe Covid-19 (03/18/20)
- From Containment to Mitigation of COVID-19 in the US (03/13/20)
- Supporting the Health Care Workforce During the COVID-19 Global Epidemic (03/12/20)
- Priorities for the US Health Community Responding to COVID-19 (03/03/20)
- US Emergency Legal Responses to Novel Coronavirus (02/13/20)
- Coronavirus Infections—More Than Just the Common Cold (01/23/20)
- The Business of Medicine in the Era of COVID-19
- The Race for Coronavirus Vaccines
- COVID-19 and the Financial Health of US Hospitals
- What policy makers need to know about COVID-19 protective immunity
- Born Into A Pandemic: Virus Complicates Births For Moms And Babies
- About Half of Lower-Income Americans Report Household Job or Wage Loss Due to COVID-19
- Restarting America Means People Will Die. So When Do We Do It?
- A National and State Plan To End the Coronavirus Crisis
- It’s the End of the World Economy as We Know It
- 1819: AL Senate Candidates Discuss the Coronavirus and the $2 Trillion Stimulus Bill
- Senate Approves $2 Trillion Stimulus After Bipartisan Deal
- FDA will allow doctors to treat critically ill coronavirus patients with blood from survivors
- CMS approves Medicaid waivers for 11 states in response to COVID-19 crisis
- Revised Families First Coronavirus Response Act Becomes Law — Five Things Healthcare Providers Need to Know
- White House, Congress agree on $2 trillion virus rescue bill
- Executive Order on Prioritizing and Allocating Health and Medical Resources
- Sewell updates public on efforts to fight virus
- Lawmakers may add surprise billing plan to virus response bill
- Private Health Coverage of COVID-19: Key Facts and Issues
- State Data and Policy Actions to Address Coronavirus (Kaiser Family Foundation)
- Senate passes House coronavirus relief package with no changes
- White House proposes $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package
- A Brief History of Quarantine
- Listen: Don’t Worry About a ‘New Strain’
- The Problem With Stories About Dangerous Coronavirus Mutations
- What Health Care Leaders and Clinicians Say About the Covid-19 Pandemic
- Health Insurers to Investors: We’re Good. Health Insurers to Lawmakers: Please Help.
- Many Health Providers on Brink of Insolvency
- Medical Staffing Companies Cut Doctors’ Pay While Spending Millions on Political Ads
- Coronavirus Fuels Explosive Growth In Telehealth ― And Concern About Fraud
- How the Small-Business Health Insurance Market Is Faring
- Primary Care and the COVID-19 Pandemic
- To ‘Keep The Lights On,’ Doctors And Hospitals Ask For Advance Medicare Payments
- 15 heroic firsthand stories from the coronavirus front lines
- Restarting America Means People Will Die. So When Do We Do It?
- Dispatch From A Country Doctor: Seeing Patients Differently In The Time Of Coronavirus
- Doctors worried about survival of their medical practices: ‘This could be the death blow,’ says physician
- Doctors will die. My friends will die.
- We are not expendable. We are not replaceable.
- America’s Hospitals Have Never Experienced Anything Like This
- Strong, Determined: Portraits of COVID-19 Healthcare Workers
- A Medical Worker Describes Terrifying Lung Failure From COVID-19 — Even in His Young Patients
- I Thought COVID-19 Was Overblown. I Was Wrong.
- 4 Ways you havent thought about using telehealth during covid-19 pandemic
- I’m a mom, a daughter and a doctor – here’s how my family is preparing for the days ahead
- How The Novel Coronavirus And The Flu Are Alike … And Different
- It’s scary as hell to be a doctor right now
- The Healthiest Way to Sweat Out a Pandemic
- How Parents Can Keep Kids Busy (and Learning) in Quarantine
- How You Should Get Food During the Pandemic
- The Dos and Don’ts of ‘Social Distancing’
- In public health emergency, agencies make plans for vulnerable populations
- Covid-19 — The Law and Limits of Quarantine
- Coronavirus Puts a Spotlight on Paid Leave Policies
- 7 things to do instead of hoarding toilet paper