Implementation of a Mobile App to Facilitate Socially-Distanced Hospital Communication and Patient Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emeka C. Anyanwu ◽  
R. Parker Ward ◽  
Atman Shah ◽  
Vineet Arora ◽  
Craig Umscheid
Keyword(s):  
Call Center ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Incident Command ◽  
Hospital Policies ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Observation Period

BACKGROUND The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly altered the delivery of healthcare, requiring clinicians and hospitals to adapt to rapidly changing hospital policies, as well as social distancing guidelines. To help address these challenges, we adapted an existing mobile app to communicate hospital policies, as well as enable direct communication between clinical team members and hospitalized patients. OBJECTIVE To describe the features and utilization of a novel mobile application. METHODS We implemented moblMD, a mobile app for iOS and Android. We worked with our Hospital Incident Command System to identify key policies to distribute using the app. The app was also populated with a searchable directory of numbers to patient bedside phones and hospital locations. We monitored anonymized user activity from February 1 – July 31, 2020. RESULTS Following its announcement the app was downloaded by a total of 1104 clinicians during the observation period, with 504 downloads within 72 hours of the first announcement. Review of COVID policies using the app was most common during the first week. Users made sustained use of hospital phone dialing features throughout the observation period and its use mirrored hospital activity and call center volume trends. CONCLUSIONS We were able to rapidly develop and deploy a communication-focused mobile app in the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic that has demonstrated initial and sustained value for clinicians in communicating with inpatients and each other in the context of social distancing.

scholarly journals A Mobile App to Facilitate Socially Distanced Hospital Communication During COVID-19: Implementation Experience

10.2196/24452 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e24452
Author(s):  
Emeka C Anyanwu ◽  
R Parker Ward ◽  
Atman Shah ◽  
Vineet Arora ◽  
Craig A Umscheid
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Delivery ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Advisory Council ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Phone Number ◽  
User Activity ◽  
Hospital Policies ◽  
Observation Period

Background COVID-19 has significantly altered health care delivery, requiring clinicians and hospitals to adapt to rapidly changing hospital policies and social distancing guidelines. At our large academic medical center, clinicians reported that existing information on distribution channels, including emails and hospital intranet posts, was inadequate to keep everyone abreast with these changes. To address these challenges, we adapted a mobile app developed in-house to communicate critical changes in hospital policies and enable direct telephonic communication between clinical team members and hospitalized patients, to support social distancing guidelines and remote rounding. Objective This study aimed to describe the unique benefits and challenges of adapting an app developed in-house to facilitate communication and remote rounding during COVID-19. Methods We adapted moblMD, a mobile app available on the iOS and Android platforms. In conjunction with our Hospital Incident Command System, resident advisory council, and health system innovation center, we identified critical, time-sensitive policies for app usage. A shared collaborative document was used to align app-based communication with more traditional communication channels. To minimize synchronization efforts, we particularly focused on high-yield policies, and the time of last review and the corresponding reviewer were noted for each protocol. To facilitate social distancing and remote patient rounding, the app was also populated with a searchable directory of numbers to patient bedside phones and hospital locations. We monitored anonymized user activity from February 1 to July 31, 2020. Results On its first release, 1104 clinicians downloaded moblMD during the observation period, of which 46% (n=508) of downloads occurred within 72 hours of initial release. COVID-19 policies in the app were reviewed most commonly during the first week (801 views). Users made sustained use of hospital phone dialing features, including weekly peaks of 2242 phone number dials, 1874 directory searches, and 277 patient room phone number searches through the last 2 weeks of the observation period. Furthermore, clinicians submitted 56 content- and phone number–related suggestions through moblMD. Conclusions We rapidly developed and deployed a communication-focused mobile app early during COVID-19, which has demonstrated initial and sustained value among clinicians in communicating with in-patients and each other during social distancing. Our internal innovation benefited from our team’s familiarity with institutional structures, short feedback loops, limited security and privacy implications, and a path toward sustainability provided by our innovation center. Challenges in content management were overcome through synchronization efforts and timestamping review. As COVID-19 continues to alter health care delivery, user activity metrics suggest that our solution will remain important in our efforts to continue providing safe and up-to-date clinical care.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Pandemic Response Simulation in a Large City: Impact of Nonpharmaceutical Interventions on Reopening Society

2021 ◽  
pp. 0272989X2110030
Author(s):  
Serin Lee ◽  
Zelda B. Zabinsky ◽  
Judith N. Wasserheit ◽  
Stephen M. Kofsky ◽  
Shan Liu
Keyword(s):  
Large City ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Variable Compliance ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Nonpharmaceutical Interventions

As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to expand, policymakers are striving to balance the combinations of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to keep people safe and minimize social disruptions. We developed and calibrated an agent-based simulation to model COVID-19 outbreaks in the greater Seattle area. The model simulated NPIs, including social distancing, face mask use, school closure, testing, and contact tracing with variable compliance and effectiveness to identify optimal NPI combinations that can control the spread of the virus in a large urban area. Results highlight the importance of at least 75% face mask use to relax social distancing and school closure measures while keeping infections low. It is important to relax NPIs cautiously during vaccine rollout in 2021.

scholarly journals A Failure of Political Communication Not a Failure of Bureaucracy: The Danger of Presidential Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 614-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Hatcher
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Medical Procedures ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Incorrect Information

President Trump’s communications during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic violate principles of public health, such as practicing transparency and deferring to medical experts. Moreover, the president’s communications are dangerous and misleading, and his lack of leadership during the crisis limits the nation’s response to the problem, increases political polarization around public health issues of social distancing, and spreads incorrect information about health-related policies and medical procedures. To correct the dangerous path that the nation is on, the administration needs to adopt a more expert-centered approach to the crisis, and President Trump needs to practice compassion, empathy, and transparency in his communications.

scholarly journals A Bittersweet Memoir

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-135
Author(s):  
Anita Y. N. Lim
Keyword(s):  
Video Clip ◽  
Early Period ◽  
General Medicine ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
The Novel ◽  
National University ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract I wrote this journal in March 2020 prior to the World Health Organization declaring the COVID-19 infection as a worldwide pandemic on March 11. The situation in Singapore was unfolding even as public healthcare institutions were tasked to lead the charge to contain the novel coronavirus as it was then called. This journal describes my experiences and impressions during my work in an isolation ward at the National University Hospital during this early period. I was to be catapulted into Pandemic Team 3 in the second and third weeks of February 2020. The urgency of hospital measures to respond to the novel coronavirus meant that the general medicine consultant roster which I was on was hijacked to support the pandemic wards. I thought wryly to myself that it was a stroke of genius to commandeer the ready-made roster of senior physicians; it would have been difficult for the roster monster to solicit senior physicians to volunteer when there were still so many unknowns about this virus. Graphic images of the dire situation in Wuhan, China, were circulating widely on social media. It was heart-wrenching to read of Dr. Li Wen Liang’s death. He had highlighted the mysterious pneumonia-causing virus. The video clip of him singing at a karaoke session that went viral underscored the tragedy of a young life cut short. Questions raced in my mind. “Are we helpless to prevent the spread of this virus?” “Is the situation in China to be replicated here in Singapore?” This seemed incredulous, yet, might it be possible? The immediate responses that jumped up within me was “yes, it’s possible, but let’s pray not. Whatever has to be done, must be done.”

scholarly journals Prevalence and correlates of forgone care among adult Israeli Jews: A survey conducted during the COVID-19 outbreak

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0260399
Author(s):  
Perla Werner ◽  
Aviad Tur-Sinai
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Model ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Seeking Help ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

Efforts to control the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic include drastic measures such as isolation, social distancing, and lockdown. These restrictions are accompanied by serious adverse consequences such as forgoing of healthcare. The study aimed to assess the prevalence and correlates of forgone care for a variety of healthcare services during a two-month COVID-19 lockdown, using Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Healthcare Utilization. A cross-sectional study using computerized phone interviews was conducted with 302 Israeli Jewish participants aged 40 and above. Almost half of the participants (49%) reported a delay in seeking help for at least one needed healthcare service during the COVID-19 lockdown period. Among the predisposing factors, we found that participants aged 60+, being more religious, and reporting higher levels of COVID-19 fear were more likely to report forgone care than younger, less religious and less concerned participants. Among need factors, a statistically significant association was found with a reported diagnosis of diabetes, with participants with the disease having a considerably higher likelihood of forgone care. The findings stress the importance of developing interventions aimed at mitigating the phenomenon of forgoing care while creating nonconventional ways of consuming healthcare services. In the short term, healthcare services need to adapt to the social distancing and isolation measures required to stanch the epidemic. In the long term, policymakers should consider alternative ways of delivering healthcare services to the public regularly and during crisis without losing sight of their budgetary consequences. They must recognize the possibility of having to align medical staff to the changing demand for healthcare services under conditions of health uncertainty.

scholarly journals The role of race and scientific trust on support for COVID-19 social distancing measures in the United States

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254127
Author(s):  
Sara Kazemian ◽  
Sam Fuller ◽  
Carlos Algara
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Institutional Trust ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Media ◽  
Racial Lines ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

Pundits and academics across disciplines note that the human toll brought forth by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States (U.S.) is fundamentally unequal for communities of color. Standing literature on public health posits that one of the chief predictors of racial disparity in health outcomes is a lack of institutional trust among minority communities. Furthermore, in our own county-level analysis from the U.S., we find that counties with higher percentages of Black and Hispanic residents have had vastly higher cumulative deaths from COVID-19. In light of this standing literature and our own analysis, it is critical to better understand how to mitigate or prevent these unequal outcomes for any future pandemic or public health emergency. Therefore, we assess the claim that raising institutional trust, primarily scientific trust, is key to mitigating these racial inequities. Leveraging a new, pre-pandemic measure of scientific trust, we find that trust in science, unlike trust in politicians or the media, significantly raises support for COVID-19 social distancing policies across racial lines. Our findings suggest that increasing scientific trust is essential to garnering support for public health policies that lessen the severity of the current, and potentially a future, pandemic.

scholarly journals Bioaerosol Size Effect in COVID-19 Transmission

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Guzman
Keyword(s):  
Immunological Response ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Submicron Particles ◽  
General Interest ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Force Measurements ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Public ◽  
Aerodynamic Particle Size ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

The fast spread of COVID-19 constitutes a worldwide challenge to the public health, educational, and trade systems, affecting the overall wellbeing of human societies. The high transmission and mortality rates of this virus, and the unavailability of a vaccine and antidote, resulted in the decision of multiple governments to force measurements of social distancing. Thus, it is of general interest to consider the validity of the proposal for keeping a social distancing of at least 6.0 ft (1.8 m) from persons with COVID-19. The eventual exposure to the bioaerosol can result in the deposition o the pathogen in the respiratory track of the host causing disease and an immunological response. In the atmospheric context, the work evaluates the effect of aerodynamic particle size in carrying RNA copies of the novel coronavirus. A COVID-19 carrier person talking, sneezing, or coughing at distance of 1.8 m can still provide a pathogenic bioaerosol load with submicron particles that remain viable in air for up to 3 hours for exposure of healthy persons near and far the source in a stagnant environment. The deposited bioaerosol creates contaminated surfaces, which if touched can act as a path to introduce the pathogen by mouth, nose, or eyes and cause disease.

scholarly journals The Mental Health of School-Going Children During Existing Lockdown Situation Due to COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Anwar Hossain ◽  
Sanjida Rahman ◽  
Md Rezaul Karim
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Additional Time ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

During this epidemic of COVID-19, children are in need of much concentration and profound love of the senior family members. Although the measures taken by the organizations are necessary to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, they may be causing widespread mental health issues, including depression and loneliness. Therefore, it is imperative that parents have to spend the lion-share of time with children while listening to them cordially. Parents can participate in sports with them to help them stay fit so that they can enjoy commemorating moments. However, in this additional time, the parents can also make them habituated to practice the rules of health, so does social distancing.

scholarly journals Determining the Number of Passengers for Each of Three Reverse Pyramid Boarding Groups with COVID-19 Flying Restrictions

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2038
Author(s):  
Camelia Delcea ◽  
R. John Milne ◽  
Liviu-Adrian Cotfas
Keyword(s):  
Health Risk ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Agent Based Modeling ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Relative Preference ◽  
Search Optimization ◽  
Airport Terminal ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

The onset of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2 has changed many aspects of people’s economic and social activities. For many airlines, social distancing has reduced airplane capacity by one third as a result of keeping the middle seats empty. Additionally, social distancing between passengers traversing the aisle slows the boarding process. Recent literature has suggested that the reverse pyramid boarding method provides favorable values for boarding time and passenger health metrics when compared to other boarding methods with social distancing. Assuming reverse pyramid boarding with the middle seats unoccupied, we determined the number of passengers to include in each of three boarding groups. We assumed that passengers use a jet-bridge that connects the airport terminal to the airplane’s front door. We used agent-based modeling and a stochastic simulation to evaluate solutions. A full grid search found an initial good solution, and then local search optimization determined the best solution based upon the airline’s relative preference for minimizing average boarding time and minimizing risks to previously seated passengers from later-boarding, potentially contagious passengers breathing near them. The resulting solution contained the number of passengers to place into each of the three boarding groups. If an airline is most concerned about the health risk to seated passengers from later boarding passengers walking near them, the best three-group reverse pyramid method adapted for social distancing will first board passengers with window seats in the rear half of the airplane, then will board passengers with window seats in the front half of the airplane and those with aisle seats in the rear half of the airplane, and finally will board the passengers with aisle seats in the front half of the airplane. The resulting solution takes about 2% longer to board than the three-group solution that minimizes boarding time while providing a 25% decrease in health risk to aisle seat passengers from later boarding passengers.

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