Abstract
BackgroundCommunication between health authorities and healthcare providers is an essential element of the response to public health emergencies. Although call centers can facilitate such communication, no published reports describing their outcomes exist. In advance of the expected COVID-19 outbreak in Israel, the Israel Center for Disease Control established a call center dedicated to queries from healthcare professionals.MethodsThe call center operated from February 5, 2020 (week 6) to May 14, 2020 (week 20). Data on calls received, including date and time, caller characteristics, questions and responses were recorded in a database designed for this purpose. The volume, sources and content of queries were analyzed.ResultsIn 15 weeks of operation, the call center responded to 6623 calls. The daily number of calls ranged from 1 to 371 (mean 79.8, median 40), peaking on week 12, 2 weeks prior to a peak in new COVID-19 cases. Callers were predominantly physicians (62.4%), nurses (18.7%) and administrators (4.4%). Most worked in primary care clinics (74.2%) or hospitals (8.7%). Among physicians, 42.3% were family physicians or internists, and 10.0% were pediatricians.The issues most commonly addressed were home quarantine (21.6%), criteria for suspected cases (20.6%), and SARS-CoV2 testing (14.1%). Twenty-five percent of questions involved requests for clarifications of MOH guidelines regarding travel restrictions, clinic management, triage of symptomatic patients, routine medical and dental care, recommended precautions for health care workers with preexisting medical conditions, and other matters. A total of 119 queries were not resolved on the basis of existing guidelines and were referred to MOH headquarters.ConclusionsThis is the first report of a call center established to serve the needs of healthcare providers seeking guidance on COVID-19 management, and to facilitate communication of providers’ concerns to the central health authority. Our work indicates that a central call center for healthcare providers can facilitate the development, implementation and amendment of guidelines and should be an integral element of the early response to public health emergencies. Real-time analysis of the call data may reveal important trends requiring prompt attention.
Highlights
In December 2019, a cluster of cases of acute respiratory illness associated with a previously unrecognized coronavirus was reported in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, China [1]
The establishment of a national call center to provide a reliable source of information for health care providers is a component of the Israel Ministry of Health (MOH) emergency response plan to major disease outbreaks [5]
In this work we describe and analyze the operation of the call center established by the Israel Center of Disease Control (ICDC) in order to facilitate effective communication with health care providers during the early stages of the COVID-19 public health emergency
Summary
In December 2019, a cluster of cases of acute respiratory illness associated with a previously unrecognized coronavirus (later known as SARS-CoV-2) was reported in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, China [1]. In response to the expected outbreak of COVID-19 in Israel, the government took multiple actions aimed at reducing the number of cases imported to the country, limiting the local spread of the disease, and establishing sufficient testing and treatment capacity. Effective communication between health authorities and healthcare providers is an essential element in the response to a major public health emergency [4]. The establishment of a national call center to provide a reliable source of information for health care providers is a component of the Israel Ministry of Health (MOH) emergency response plan to major disease outbreaks [5]. Communication between health authorities and healthcare providers is an essential element of the response to public health emergencies. In advance of the expected COVID-19 outbreak in Israel, the Israel Center for Disease Control established a call center dedicated to queries from healthcare professionals
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