Expanding the hospital incident command system with a physician-centric role during a pandemic: The role of the physician clinical support supervisor

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic is the largest mass effect incident in a century, requiring hospitals to consider how best to adapt the Hospital Incident Command System for a sustained pandemic. Given the scope of the pandemic a central position is required to improve the flow of information to providers, the flow from providers to the Incident Commander, and the overall coordination between diverse service lines and specialties. We describe a novel position, the Physician Clinical Support Supervisor, a position that has three primary functions during disaster operations: liaison, coordinator, and advocate. This role proved critical in day-to-day operations and facilitated highly effective communication up and down the chain of command, created a single point-person to coordinate multiple service lines and specialties, and served as a primary advocate for front-line workers and command.