This is part 6 of the series on Way to Health's involvement in helping address the pandemic. This post focuses on the design and launch of the COVID SAFE project. As the Penn health system and the University were looking at re-opening, the one concern was ongoing testing (this was before there was a vaccine in the picture). It was also felt that surveillance testing is critical in getting visibility into and managing the spread of the disease. This post outlines the COVID SAFE project which did this at scale using Saliva based testing methods and Way to Health.

This is part 5 of a series on Way to Health's involvement in helping address the COVID-19 pandemic. This post focuses on the design and launch of the COVID Pulse project. This project addressed the Emergency Department (ED) need to be able to discharge patients with suspected COVID but not requiring immediate admission. The goal was to give these patients a pulse oximeter and remind them to send in their SpO2 readings on a regular basis. Way to Health would process these and based on the clinical algorithm escalate the patient as needed.

Great article on Watch specfically and texting programs in general that have helped keep patients safe and out of the hospital. Patients appreciate the ability to stay home but still monitored and connected to care teams, while the clinicians are comfortable that issues can be identified and addressed quickly and efficiently. Automation also saves the health system serious money, reducing the need for additional staffing. While some technology worsens disparities, simple texting programs appear to close the gap.

Kathleen C. Lee, MD, Nida Al-Ramahi, MHA, Lauren Hahn, MBA, Terrilynn Donnell, Lillian J. Schonewolf, Neda Khan, Christina O’Malley, MHA, Utsha G. Khatri, MD, Ellen Pearlman, MS, Mohan Balachandran, MA, David A. Asch, MD, MBA, W. L. Herndon, Colleen Mallozzi, MBA, RN, Judith Green-McKenzie, MD, MPH, Nishaminy Kasbekar, PharmD, Christopher Cullom, MBA, Sharon Carney, MD, Reverend William Shaw, DMin, Patricia Sullivan, PhD, Phil Okala, MHA, Patrick J Brennan, MD & Eugenia South, MD, MS

NEJM CAT

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout has been highly inequitable, with white individuals being vaccinated at higher rates than Black individuals in 38 states. In just 2 weeks, we designed and launched a community clinic model. As of March 2021, we have run three 7-hour clinics, vaccinating a total of 2,821 people, of whom 85% were Black. Logistical innovations allowed the clinics to operate line-free throughout most of the day and with a Net Promoter score of 94, evidencing outstanding patient satisfaction.