A new toolkit from the Health Innovation Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison can help clinicians navigate daily conversations with patients’ families who are not permitted to visit the hospital due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The toolkit, “Best Case/Worst Case: ICU (COVID-19)," was developed by Margaret "Gretchen" Schwarze, MD, MPP, FACS, associate professor, Department of Surgery, and her team, along with Toby Campbell, MD, MS, associate professor, Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Care (both pictured).

Clinicians who are caring for patients who have COVID-19—especially those clinicians tasked with communicating with families—can use the Best Case/Worst Case framework to navigate daily conversations with patients’ families who are not permitted to visit the hospital. It can help separated families develop an understanding of their loved one’s illness, prognostic awareness and the range of possible outcomes.

Using the framework both informs critical care clinicians about the lives of the patients they are caring for and supports families who are absent from the patient’s bedside and isolated at home.

The toolkit exists for the benefit of the health care community. It's available available free of charge and can be used without permission; however, registration with HIPxChange is required prior to usage.