Toward an Agile System: Iranian Information System for Covid-19-Affected Patients Data Collection from Iranian...

COVID-19's rapid spreads has caused a global pandemic. On 19th February 2020, Iran reported its first confirmed cases of infections in Qom City and the number of diagnosed cases and the death toll rose exponentially in March [1-3]. Managing the disease, which is considered a pandemic according to the World Health Organization (WHO) [4], requires definite approaches differing according to various factors in each country, which may also lead to (in)effective dealing with the disease. In addition, using international data and information, and WHO advice, especially in the crisis and therapeutic procedures, is one of the best crisis management strategies [5]. For every plan by governances, the first step is collecting information on epidemic distribution for the purpose of isolating provinces and cities at a national scale. Thus, Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran (MOHME) attempted to collect the minimum required data on the infection-affected patients based on medical records and epidemiological factors, such as demographic data (gender, age and national code), exposure history (close contact with the infected, suspect patients or even having traveled) and signs and symptoms (fever, cough, shortness or difficulties in breathing, fatigue, anorexia, hemoptysis, sputum production, dyspnea, Myalgia, Pharyngalgia, nausea, vomiting, Diarrhea, Headache, Abdominal pain, Dizziness, etc.). Therefore, to ensure accuracy and validity, and to speed up data collection in an area, Information Technology (IT) tools were required [6]. In this regard, developing an information system with a simple format and user-friendly interface in the shortest possible time was the aim. This study presents the local information system developed in March 2020, which has been registering hospitalized Covide-19-affected patients in Iranian hospitals up till now. In other words, this paper introduces features and procedures of one of the national systems as a health registry that includes clinical information on admitted Covid-19 patients in Iranian hospitals from admission to discharge or death. This system is supported by MOHME, and along with outpatient Point of Care Information Systems (POCS), feeds the national and international pandemic reports and decisions.