Brain Injury Business and Professional Council Shares Best Practices During COVID-19

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) established its Business and Professional Council in 2008 to facilitate co-opetition in the field of brain injury rehabilitation; that is, by cooperating with (otherwise) competitors in sharing advocacy and operational best practices, members of the Council improve the business environment for all.

Late this winter, council members watched the exponential spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes, Coronavirus disease-2019 (known as COVID-19), and realized that, through frequent networking, they could share information about the virus and how it might affect their rehabilitation programs.

As confirmed cases began to build in mid-March, Council members began weekly calls to share:

• plans to lock down their facilities and reduce disease vectors;
• potential sources for personal protective equipment;
• methods to isolate infected persons served; and
• successful ways to communicate with staff, persons served, family members, and payor sources.

As weeks passed, their calls focused on:

• their changes to admissions and therapy provision, including telehealth platforms and policies;
• workforce management;
• ideas for programs and families to keep people with brain injury active and healthy;
• federal, state, and local stay-at-home orders and regulations for long-term care facilities;
• home-made masks, alternatives for gowns, and 3D printing for face shields and mask strap extenders; and
• reports of disease and treatment complications.

Now Council members are turning their attention to state plans to loosen restrictions and how those plans will affect brain injury rehabilitation settings. They are closely monitoring reports of neurologic deficits in people who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 and are studying how their own organizations may need to adapt to treat infected patients, as well as those who have recovered, with brain injury acquired from the disease or its treatment.

BIAA has been honored to host these calls and to be part, once again, of an effort to protect and serve people with brain injury. We value our provider community and all of the health care professionals who, every day, provide care and therapy to increase the quality of life for their persons served