4 IT Tools To Fight The Flu Epidemic

By Ken Congdon, Editor In Chief, ken.congdon@jamesonpublishing.com
Follow Me On Twitter @KenOnHIT

The U.S. is currently in the midst of one of the worst flu seasons on record. Across the country, people are missing work, being hospitalized, and even dying as a result of the virus. The outbreak is placing a tremendous strain on health providers as well. Physician offices and hospital ERs, in particular, are experiencing higher than normal patient loads, and treating all patients quickly and effectively can be challenging. Amidst this epidemic, it’s becoming clear that technology can be leveraged to aid in the treatment of patients and even to help control the spread of the virus. Many technologies have been applied effectively this flu season, but others clearly need to be adopted on a larger scale to have the desired impact. The following are four technology applications that can be valuable weapons in the war against influenza:

1. Social Media — With over 1 billion people on Facebook and 500 million on Twitter, social media is becoming a viable medium in which to track illness outbreaks. People use these social networks to document the minutia of their daily lives, including posts that mention when they or their loved ones are down with the flu. This data can be (and has been) used to accurately track flu outbreaks. In fact, a small start-up called Sickweather (www.sickweather.com) uses data from Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks to monitor and forecast illness activity. Sickweather declared the beginning of the influenza outbreak on October 18^th — six weeks earlier than the Centers for Disease Control. Identifying illness trends earlier through social media can be extremely advantageous when it comes to provider and patient preparation.
2. EMR/Population Health Management — One of the benefits of EMRs is the sheer fact that patient data is stored electronically. This makes it easier to aggregate and analyze key pieces of information. For instance, with a few mouse clicks, you can see how many patients in your family practice have yet to receive a flu shot. With this information, you can plan more aggressive outreach to these patients (e.g. phone calls, direct mail, etc.) and even provide these patients with special offers (e.g. discounts, coupons, etc.) to encourage them to take  preventative measures.
3. Workflow/Patient Flow — There is no getting around the fact that doctor’s offices and ERs will experience elevated patient volumes when a flu outbreak strikes. In order to ensure patient surges don’t disrupt operations, you need to ensure your clinical documentation processes and workflows are optimized. EMRs, eForms, and documentation templates can help streamline patient flow by allowing clinicians and administrators to quickly and accurately register patients, document/diagnose illnesses, prescribe medications/treatment, and submit billing/claims information.
4. Telemedicine/Telehealth — While vastly underutilized this flu season, telemedicine technologies — particularly videoconferencing and remote monitoring solutions — may be one of the most powerful tools we have to combat illness epidemics. Think about it — what place is more infected with influenza germs than a doctor’s office or ER waiting room at the height of flu season? The sheer act of visiting the doctor’s office to be diagnosed and treated is a primary contributor to the spread of the disease. With telemedicine, patients can be seen and diagnosed by physicians without ever leaving their homes. These “virtual” office visits can help isolate the virus by curtailing the spread of flu germs.