Abstract
BackgroundSouth Korea took preemptive action against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by implementing extensive testing, thorough epidemiological investigation, strict social distancing, and rapid treatment of patients according to disease severity. The Korean government entrusted large-scale hospitals with the operation of living and treatment support centers (LTSCs) for the management for clinically healthy COVID-19 patients.ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to introduce our experience implementing information and communications technology (ICT)-based remote patient management systems at a COVID-19 LTSC.MethodsWe adopted new electronic health record templates, hospital information system (HIS) dashboards, cloud-based medical image sharing, a mobile app, and smart vital sign monitoring devices.ResultsEnhancements were made to the HIS to assist in the workflow and care of patients in the LTSC. A dashboard was created for the medical staff to view the vital signs and symptoms of all patients. Patients used a mobile app to consult with their physician or nurse, answer questionnaires, and input self-measured vital signs; the results were uploaded to the hospital information system in real time. Cloud-based image sharing enabled interoperability between medical institutions. Korea’s strategy of aggressive mitigation has “flattened the curve” of the rate of infection. A multidisciplinary approach was integral to develop systems supporting patient care and management at the living and treatment support center as quickly as possible.ConclusionsFaced with a novel infectious disease, we describe the implementation and experience of applying an ICT-based patient management system in the LTSC affiliated with Seoul National University Hospital. ICT-based tools and applications are increasingly important in health care, and we hope that our experience will provide insight into future technology-based infectious disease responses.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has become a major concern worldwide since the first report from Wuhan, China in December 2019 [1,2,3,4]
Faced with a novel infectious disease, we describe the implementation and experience of applying an information and communications technology (ICT)-based patient management system in the living and treatment support centers (LTSCs) affiliated with Seoul National University Hospital
Patients who were positive for the COVID-19 real time polymerase–chain reaction (RT-PCR) test but were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms were subject to LTSC admission
Summary
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has become a major concern worldwide since the first report from Wuhan, China in December 2019 [1,2,3,4]. South Korea acted preemptively against COVID-19 with robust testing, vigorous tracing, strict social distancing, and rapid treatment of patients according to severity. Up to 80% of patients tested were clinically healthy, and due to the substantial number of tests performed, medical institutions were highly saturated. To provide appropriate treatment and to reduce the burden on the medical institutions of Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk Province, the government established a new treatment system based on severity on March 1, 2020 [9]. South Korea took preemptive action against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by implementing extensive testing, thorough epidemiological investigation, strict social distancing, and rapid treatment of patients according to disease severity. The Korean government entrusted large-scale hospitals with the operation of living and treatment support centers (LTSCs) for the management for clinically healthy COVID-19 patients
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