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Inpatient Telehealth Tools to Enhance Communication and Decrease Personal Protective Equipment Consumption during
Shawn Y Ong1, Lisa Stump2, Matthew Zawalich2
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States.
Applied Clinical Informatics
|November 4, 2020
Summary
Inpatient telehealth technologies were implemented to reduce personal protective equipment (PPE) use during the COVID-19 pandemic. This large-scale deployment proved feasible, offering solutions for health systems to enhance communication and conserve critical supplies.
Area of Science:
- Health Informatics
- Medical Technology
- Hospital Administration
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic significantly stressed healthcare systems, necessitating innovative solutions to reduce personal protective equipment (PPE) consumption.
- While telehealth is common in outpatient settings, its large-scale adoption for inpatient care remained limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate and implement inpatient telehealth technologies within a large healthcare system.
- To decrease PPE usage and improve communication for healthcare workers and patients.
Main Methods:
- Identified 13 inpatient telehealth use cases driven by patient surges and PPE demand.
- Assessed various consumer-grade devices for suitability and implemented over 1,800 devices across seven hospitals.
Main Results:
- Successfully deployed over 1,800 inpatient telehealth devices, addressing identified use cases.
- Overcame challenges in security, device setup, functionality, and workflow integration.
- Received positive feedback from healthcare staff regarding device implementation and utility.
Conclusions:
- Large-scale implementation of consumer telehealth devices for inpatient use is achievable.
- This initiative provided valuable insights into operational barriers and solutions for preserving PPE and enhancing communication in healthcare settings.
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