Intermountain’s Advanced Decision Support team from Care Transformation Information Systems (CTIS) has been turning around development requests at an accelerated pace with 53 requests completed since the outbreak started and several more under development.
Some of the many updates in iCentra the Advanced Decision Support team is working on:
- Ordering isolation precautions. Correct isolation precautions are ordered for patients and the orders are displayed in the banner bar where clinicians can easily see them.
- Open chart alert for COVID-19 positive or pending patients. Clinicians are alerted if a patient has had a non-negative COVID-19 test or if a test is currently pending. This allows clinicians to know when to take appropriate precautions with PPE when interacting with the patient.
- Testing priority algorithm. With limited testing supplies, a priority algorithm identifies which COVID-19 tests the lab needs to run first. This is indicated on the label of the testing specimen so the lab can process tests in a data-driven manner.
- Emergency Department pneumonia and COVID-19 decision support. COVID-19 changes to the ePneumonia clinical decision support tool are in development. ePneumonia is a decision support tool that’s been used across Intermountain since 2018. It helps clinicians identify patients at risk for pneumonia and deliver the right care to the right patient at the right time.
“We’re just really grateful we can contribute in meaningful ways,” says Kathryn Kuttler, PhD, Advanced Decision Support director. “We have a very dedicated team that excels at what they do. They want to contribute in the best way possible.”
The Healthcare Delivery Institute’s Activity-Based Design (ABD) team has also flexed to support the demand for tech-based solutions during the pandemic. ABD created a testing priority calculator similar to the one the CTIS team built, but for providers who don’t have access to iCentra. ABD took an inefficient paperwork process and turned it into a digital tool that lab staff could use to set the proper priority for testing samples sent in from non-affiliated providers.
David Edwards, PhD, manager of ABD, lauds the collective effort of Intermountain behind the scenes. He says, “I jump on the command calls that CTIS runs every morning, and I’m just blown away by the competency and the innovation of the whole Intermountain technology team and how everybody’s pulling together.”
With the rapidly changing nature of the COVID-19 environment, Intermountain’s IT infrastructure plays a crucial supporting role.
“I’m sure more requests will come in, and we anticipate that,” says Kathryn. “But we’re ready and prepared to help our caregivers deliver the best care possible to our patients.”