For nursing home residents with COVID-19, early treatment with oral antivirals can substantially reduce the risk of hospitalization and death, but treatment must begin within five days of symptom onset. Making that happen requires more than having effective medication. It depends on recognizing illness early, testing promptly, coordinating communication among staff, prescribers, pharmacy, residents, and families, and acting quickly.

The resources below were developed with nursing home providers to help facilities overcome these implementation barriers and support timely antiviral treatment.

Clinical Recognition and Communication

• Symptom Recognition Tool
  Supports early recognition of COVID-19 symptoms, including atypical presentations commonly seen in older adults, to facilitate timely testing and clinical evaluation. 
• Family Communication Guide
  Provides plain-language information to support conversations with residents and families about COVID-19 antiviral treatment and timely decision-making.
• Standing Orders Template
  Offers a customizable template to help facilities incorporate timely COVID-19 testing and antiviral treatment into routine nursing home workflows.

Prescriber Resources

• Prescriber Decision Support Tool
  Summarizes key clinical considerations for prescribing oral COVID-19 antivirals, including treatment eligibility and important prescribing considerations. This tool is intended to support, not replace, clinical judgment; please confirm all flagged drug interactions and prescribing decisions with the pharmacist and prescriber.
• SBAR Communication Tool
  Provides a structured communication template to support communication between nursing staff and prescribers when COVID-19 antiviral treatment is being considered.

These resources were developed through a quality improvement initiative conducted in partnership with nursing home providers and supported by Pfizer. They are intended to complement current clinical guidelines, prescribing information, and clinical judgment.