Preparation and Flexibility Key to Managing the COVID Crisis

In the early days of the pandemic in the US, Seattle was on the front lines. Virginia Mason and the entire Seattle hospital group banded together in late February to develop processes for responding to the virus, not fully knowing what to expect. 

One of their first actions was to start screening both patients and visitors to the hospital. They then cut off any outside vendors coming in, set up limited entry points to the hospital and placed screeners (wearing masks) at each of the doors to inquire about travel and potential exposure to the disease.  

As the disease and its transmission mechanisms became better understood, additional precautions were taken. Masks were made available at all the entrance points for any visitors and they were required to wear them as they moved through the hospital, then dispose of them upon departing the hospital. 

In preparation for the COVID surge, the EHR was set up to track patients who tested positive and to monitor patients as they moved around the hospital (e.g., out of critical beds and into overflow areas), ensuring the appropriate focus could remain on all patients throughout the facility. Approximately four different units (technically virtual units) we set up to accommodate any kind of patient. 

Real-Time patient dashboards were built within the electronic medical record to serve as a daily checkpoint. The dashboard includes data such as the number of COVID patients in the hospital, how many have tested negative, how many ventilators are in use for COVID patients (and how many are available) and how many patients have been discharged or died. The great news is those numbers have been stable and they've been on the downward decline, both at the hospital but across the city and state.