Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Information is king
Hospitals, state, others gather data to inform public, make decisions
Since the new coronavirus first hit the world stage, data has been collected with each new positive case of COVID-19.
Information is vital when dealing with a pandemic.
Since the new coronavirus first hit the world stage, data has been collected with each new positive case of COVID-19. Some of the information was quickly made available to the public such as symptoms, high risk populations and how best to prevent the spread of the virus.
Other information was slower to be released publicly.
At the start of the pandemic in the state, the state department of health provided numbers on testing including negative and positive results. Since then, the information shared has expanded to include the number of cases by county, age groups, ZIP codes, nursing home and other long-term care facilities, and hospital preparedness information.
“We’re always working to give the public more information so that they understand the situation in terms of the public health implications of COVID-19,” said Dr. Rachel Levine, secretary of the department of health, during a recent daily briefing.
The department of health’s data relies on information provided by hospitals and labs, whether the patient is being tested for COVID-19 or any other condition.
“The same information is collected from every inpatient at Penn State Health hospitals, regardless of COVID-19 status,” Penn State Health said in a statement through media specialist Barbara Schindo.
Patients fill out registration forms upon admission and the information which includes name, birth date and demographic information goes into their electronic medical record.
“Beginning April 14, the state of Pennsylvania’s Health Alert Network requested that hospitals provide date of birth, address, phone numbers and race/ ethnicity for all individuals being tested for COVID-19,” said Dr. Debra Powell, chief of infectious diseases at Reading Hospital. “This will allow the state to review cumulative data to identify if a particular segment of the population is being impacted by this virus.”
Powell expects the same information to be collected with antibody testing.
The dashboards
Health systems are also sharing information on COVID-19 patients being treated and tested at their facilities. Penn State Health and Tower Health created dashboards displaying information on the patients in their health systems in relation to the virus.
The dashboards are updated daily and the information can be narrowed down to specific hospitals including St. Joseph and
Reading Hospital. Both health systems also provide more information and resources on COVID-19 on their websites.
Penn State Health launched its dashboard at the end of March.
Data shared through the dashboard includes number of completed COVID-19 tests completed, number of patients in the hospital currently under investigation for COVID-19, confirmed positive patients in the hospitals, number of positive patients in critical care, number of positive patients on a ventilator, number of discharged COVID-19 patients and number of cumulative COVID-19 fatalities in the hospitals.
“Penn State Health launched a COVID-19 dashboard on its website on March 30 to provide a picture of how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting our staff, health care facilities and the communities we serve,” Penn State Health said ina news release.
Tower Health created its online information center in April.
Data shared through the online information center includes number of tests completed, current COVID-19 positive inpatients, percent of COVID-19 patients currently in critical care, percent of COVID-19 patients currently on a ventilator and total number of inpatient deaths.
“Tower Health believes it is important to keep the community informed about COVID-19 and to collaborate with other health systems in providing information as the situation continues to evolve,” Powell said. “Our hope is that sharing this data will encourage
everyone to help reduce the spread of the virus by practicing social distancing, staying home, wearing a mask when outside and frequent hand washing.”
Preliminary data for the new virus is still being collected. Tower Health is reviewing age, co-morbidities, current treatment regimens and lab results. This data helps health systems better understand the virus and how to help patients fight off COVID-19. Research projects are being developed to identify the best course of treatment for patients with COVID-19 based off of this data.
“Information gathered is used to help clinical providers make well-informed,
real-time decisions about each patient’s treatment,” Penn State Health said. “The de-identified data is also used to help clinicians and researchers better understand COVID-19. We are also collaborating with centers around the world, using data from patients with COVID-19, to better understand this novel virus and effective treatments for it.”
The big picture
Since late April, the Wolf Administration started using its coronavirus data to best determine when counties can move from red to yellow and then eventually to green in the phased reopening of the state. Because the virus is new, the data will be essential even after the pandemic has passed.
“Currently, providers have access to limited published
data in the literature from small studies and international populations,” Powell said. “After the initial wave of the pandemic, the collected data will be used to determine the best course of treatment for future COVID-19 patients.”
Parts of the Wolf plan to ease restrictions include test availability, population density and how the surrounding areas are faring. What’s gained the most attention is the 14-day count.
The administration wants to see no more than 50 new cases per 100,000 population spread across the two weeks. For Berks that means 211 cases for a daily average of fewer than 20.
On Thursday the 14-day running total was 883 for an average of 63, and Berks was a long way off from reaching that part of the benchmarks.