Referring Patients to Brigham Emergency Departments
The Emergency Departments at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital are available 24/7 for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients who require emergency department evaluation. Expect notes for patients can be entered directly in EPIC (preferred), or by calling the Brigham Access Center at 617-732-8903 for the Brigham and Women’s Hospital ED, or directly to the Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital ED at 617-983-7700.
For patients who do not require emergency department evaluation, and who require testing only, please refer to the testing locations information.
Patient Transfers
The Brigham Access Center at 617-732-8903 provides efficient patient transfers to Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. The Center is staffed 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week by critical care trained nurses that will facilitate a seamless patient transfer. Through one phone call, coordination of the transfer will be efficient, timely and safe.
To transfer a patient from the emergency room, please call the direct line to the Access Center at 617-732-8903, which is staffed 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week. An Access Center RN will screen all patients for COVID-19. If a patient does screen positive, the Biothreat team will be paged and will get on the phone with physician to discuss the case.
Protocols
A multidisciplinary team of Brigham and Women’s physicians, fellows, respiratory therapists and pharmacists across all departments has launched a free online clinical resource. It can be found at covidprotocols.org and includes rapidly evolving clinical guidelines, recommendations from the limited scientific literature and reflects on the experiences of collaborating clinicians in China.
Testing Criteria
Patients with suspected COVID-19 who require testing and hospitalization will be admitted to designated appropriate areas and cared for under specific protocols with attention to infection control and treatment. Additionally, Mass General Brigham has established COVID-19 testing criteria for outpatients and inpatients - these criteria are reviewed for updates daily as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves and the needs of our patients evolve. If you have specific questions please call the Access Center at 617-732-8903.
Physician Gateway
Virtual tools are more important than ever in these times. Please leverage access to Mass General Brigham Physician Gateway to keep track of your patients. Through this secure internet service, you can monitor the status of your patients who are also receiving care from physicians at Mass General Brigham institutions as well as Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Mass Eye and Ear.
Resources For Your Patients
Information for your patients is available in our COVID-19 resource pages, as well as at the Brigham Health Hub.
Please note, given the rapidly changing situation, protocols and guidelines are adapting accordingly. We will endeavor to keep this information as up to date as possible, but please call the Access Center with questions.