Using Information Technology To Improve COVID-19 Care At New York City Health + Hospitals.

Salway, R James; Silvestri, David; Wei, Eric; Bouton, Michael

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic surged in New York City, the city's public hospital system, New York City Health + Hospitals (NYC H+H), recognized that innovative technological solutions were needed to respond to the crisis. Our health system recently transitioned to a unified enterprise-wide electronic medical record (EMR) across all of our hospitals. This accelerated our ability to implement a series of technological solutions to the crisis. We engaged in focused efforts to improve staff efficiency, including rapid Medical Screening Exams for low acuity patients, use of "Smart Notes," and improved vital sign monitoring. We standardized patient work-up using specialty-specific order sets, created dashboards to give insight into enterprise-wide bed availability and facilitate transfers from the hardest-hit hospitals, and improved patient experience by using iPads to connect patients to loved ones. The technology bridged divides between different hospital systems city-wide to encourage sharing of data and improve patient care. By rapidly expanding use of information technology, NYC H+H responded to the COVID-19 surge and is now better positioned to work in a more integrated fashion in the future. [Editor's Note: This Fast Track Ahead Of Print article is the accepted version of the manuscript. The final edited version will appear in an upcoming issue of Health Affairs.].