Monoclonal Antibodies: A Reduction in Hospital Admissions in COVID-19 Therapy Northern Light Health

In December 2020, Northern Light Health began sporadically giving its first doses of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) as a treatment for COVID-19. Teams went through major transitions to create a system-wide approach that included utilization of algorithms to proactively identify high-risk patients, creation of workflows and PowerPlans for standardized care delivery, management of workforce and supply chain, establishment of safe infusion centers, and support models for at home infusions for individuals who could not travel to a clinic. The clinical informatics (CI) and information systems (IS) teams also created a system-wide schedule to display infusion location sites, an online referral program and additional tools to standardize the process. The goal was to ease the difficulties the community experienced scheduling therapy and strive for optimal patient outcomes.

Northern Light Health showed an improvement in care delivery and clinical outcomes for patients who received mAb therapy. Over time, Northern Light Health has administered 2,754 mAb treatments leading to 183 preventable hospital events. The preventable events are based on the current clinical research, which indicates that patients receiving mAb therapy have fewer ED visits, hospital admissions and overall improved mortality rates.1 

The road to the utilization of mAb was paved with lessons learned from the evolution of testing and vaccination processes, supply chain and workforce management decisions.