The recent research article, which was published by JAMA Network Open, features survey data collected from more than 1,000 medical, graduate, and health professional school faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. The survey was conducted in September 2020.

Nearly three-fourths (71%) of locum tenens physicians, nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), and certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), have treated COVID-19 patients, suggesting that locum tenens providers have played an important role in providing care during the pandemic, according to the survey, conducted by Staff Care, a national physician staffing firm and a subsidiary of AMN Healthcare.

Following the PHE’s initial declaration in March 2020 and several extensions, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra reauthorized the PHE declaration on April 21. By law, that means the declaration is good for another 90 days—in this case through July 20—unless otherwise stated by the secretary.

As COVID-19 case numbers start to drop nationwide, there’s a tendency to want to ease up on the precautions taken over the last 15 months. But regulators are continuing to insist on the wearing of masks in healthcare facilities.

In addition to the Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver program, another driver of hospital at home growth during the pandemic has been the launch of virtual programs to monitor coronavirus patients outside the hospital setting. Denver Health has served more than 1,000 patients in its Virtual Hospital at Home program.

Some elements of the emergency standard will be effective as quickly as 14 days from when it is published in the Federal Register and 30 days for the rest of it, according to fact sheets posted by OSHA. A publication date is said to be soon, but it is unclear how soon.

The recent national survey, which was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for the Philadelphia-based ABIM Foundation, is based on information collected from 600 physicians nationwide.