Clinical Informatics Accelerates Health System Adaptation to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Examples from Colorado

Lin, Chen-Tan; Bookman, Kelly; Sieja, Amber; Markley, Katie; Altman, Richard L; Sippel, Jeffrey; Perica, Katharine; Reece, Lori; Davis, Christopher; Horowitz, Edward; Pisney, Larissa; Sottile, Peter D; Kao, David; Adrian, Bonnie; Szkil, Melissa; Griffin, Julie; Youngwerth, Jeanie; Drew, Brendan; Pell, Jonathan

OBJECTIVE: Large health systems responding to the COVID-19 pandemic face a broad range of challenges; we describe 14 examples of innovative and effective informatics interventions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A team of 30 physician and 17 nurse informaticists with an electronic health record (EHR) and associated informatics tools. RESULTS: To meet the demands posed by the influx of patients with COVID-19 into the health system, the team built solutions to accomplish the following goals: train physicians and nurses quickly to manage a potential surge of hospital patients; build and adjust interactive visual pathways to guide decisions; scale up video visits and teach communication; use tablets and remote monitors to improve in-hospital and post-hospital patient connections; allow hundreds of physicians to build rapid consensus; improve the use of advance care planning; keep clinicians aware of patients’ changing COVID-19 status; connect nurses and families in new ways; semi-automate Crisis Standards of Care; and predict future hospitalizations. DISCUSSION: During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UCHealth Joint Informatics Group applied a strategy of “practical informatics” to rapidly translate critical leadership decisions into understandable guidance and effective tools for patient care. CONCLUSION: Informatics-trained physicians and nurses drew upon their trusted relationships with multiple teams within the organization to create practical solutions for onboarding, clinical decision-making, telehealth, and predictive analytics.