How Can Health Systems Better Support Nursing Homes During the Pandemic—And Beyond?

The tragic toll that COVID-19 has had on nursing homes globally has been well-documented; the director of the World Health Organization (WHO) recently said that in many countries, 40 percent of COVID-19 deaths have been among nursing home residents, and in some high-income countries, 80 percent of deaths have been in that population. In the early days of the pandemic, reports of nursing home facilities being understaffed and ill-prepared to adequately test both their patients and staff regularly were commonplace. Another key problem area is that most post-acute care providers do not exchange health information electronically with referring hospitals, physicians or home health providers.