Where Are All the Patients? Addressing Covid-19 Fear to Encourage Sick Patients to Seek Emergency Care

"Leaders at a 150-bed community hospital in California partnered with a collective of human-centered designers to rapidly address a sudden drop in emergency department visits after a statewide stay-at-home order was issued. The initiative developed targeted messaging to assuage patient fears about safety and remind patients not to ignore heart and stroke symptoms." Coauthors of this NEJM Catalyst paper include plastic surgery resident Dr. Laura Wong (first author), trauma surgeon & Exec. Dir. of TheBetterLab, Dr. Amanda Sammann and trauma and critical care fellow Dr. Simone Langness.