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Technology
Different Ways Technology is Helping to Combat COVID-19 & Keep Humanity Connected
As the healthcare industry uses all their resources to treat the growing number of COVID-19 cases worldwide, which at time of writing is over 1.6 million cases with almost 100,000 confirmed deaths, technology has become a useful tool to help monitor cases, share information, care for patients and ensure public safety.
Outside of healthcare, the corporate world and school systems have also used technology as a means to carry on their business operations, such as using Zoom and other video conferencing websites to host virtual meetings and classroom sessions. In this article, we’ll highlight just some of the ways technology is helping to maintain quality of life during this unprecedented time where the need for responsible information sharing and connectivity during quarantine is at its highest.
Videoconferencing for Remote
Care, Learning and Productivity According to an article by HealthTech, the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv, opened a coronavirus telemedicine program in March to physically isolate and treat Israeli patients. “A telehealth-driven model could be expanded in the U.S. if coronavirus cases grow, one federal official told National Public Radio,” the report notes.
While China was dealing at COVID-19, 5G networking and communications equipment were installed at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University as a reactionary measure “to allow providers to conduct the first remote diagnosis of coronavirus with the help of a telehealth system. The initiative will be expanded to other hospitals,” HealthTech reports.
In other countries like the U.S., many employees are working from home under state- or self-imposed quarantines, and they are using remote work tools such as Zoom video conferencing to help keep in touch with their colleagues, CNBC reports. Americans are also using Zoom to connect with friends and family by hosting virtual gatherings. Zoom, like FaceTime and Skype, is a useful tool for socializing with others without the risk of exposure.
School districts and universities have also taken on Zoom as a form of communication between students and teachers as most school campuses in some states have been closed for the rest of the school year. In lieu of traditional face-to-face teaching, school courses have transitioned to an on-line format and classroom sessions are now held virtually.
This change has put pressure on teachers and students alike. Teachers have to not only learn new technology but also use it effectively to relay information to their students in a structured manner. Students, and their parents, on the other hand, have to create a productive learning environment in their homes amongst the other responsibilities they have to conduct at home.
Robots Assist Patient Care While communication tools have helped healthcare workers keep in touch and share timely information with each other, robots have been used as a medium between physicians and their COVID-19 patients. Providence, the nation’s third-largest healthcare system, was the first in the United States to treat a patient with COVID-19. HealthTech reports that in late January, physicians at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, used a robot to check a patient’s vitals with a stethoscope and communicate with them with the robot’s builtin screen.
With a remote-controlled telehealth cart, physicians were able to conduct basic diagnostic functions, including taking blood pressure and temperature. Providence Regional Medical Center’s Chief Clinical
Officer, Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, told Forbes that “technology is allowing us to reduce the number of up-close interactions” with patients who have contracted the coronavirus.
In a webinar about Providence’s care strategies amid the COVID-19 outbreaks, Dr. Compton-Phillips emphasized that clear communication about care options for concerned patients is key during this time of uncertainty. “The best thing you can do for your organization and the people depending on you is to be the voice of reason and calm,” she said.
Chinese news media have stated that other uses for robots have included robotic food delivery and trash removal. In addition, robots have been designed to kill germs by emitting ultraviolet C light and are sterilizing rooms at facilities with suspected cases of coronavirus. These robots are also being used to clean the interiors of some airplanes traveling from China to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Software Identifies Coronavirus Patterns in Electronic Health Records HealthTech also reports that some healthcare IT vendors are updating their software to better identify patterns and potential signs of COVID-19. In late January, Madison-based electronic health record corporation Epic updated its travel screen questionnaire in collaboration with the help of biocontainment experts and infectious disease specialists. They also utilized coronavirus guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The goal of this project was to make sure that clinicians and other medical staff on the frontlines of COVID-19 were asking patients the right questions, such as about recent international travel and relevant symptoms that could prompt isolation precautions, Healthcare IT News reports. ance, testing orders and screening questions within their own electronic health record software. This technology is becoming a useful tool to inform patients and providers as quickly as possible.
Chatbots Help Ease Patient Fears About Coronavirus Plenty of healthcare companies have been updating their algorithms to create chatbots that help screen users for the virus before they visit a hospital or clinic. This is meant to help the patients identify possible symptoms early and reduce unnecessary visits from patients who do not have the virus.
For example, there’s an on-demand primary care app called 98point6 which released a coronavirus screening chatbot in January. The app had mixed results in the beginning, but tech designers have been updating the algorithm ever since with symptom-specific changes. Artificial intelligence (AI)-backed chatbots have also been developed to answer any questions from the general public about the virus. An AI firm called Haptik created an WhatsApp nCOV help desk chatbot to answer any questions about COVID-19 and provide users with continual updates.
A 17-year-old named Avi Schiffmann, a high school junior from Mercer Island outside Seattle, created a global COVID-19 tracking website that has been a vital global resource for the general public. Avi created the website in December, when no cases had been reported out-
side of China. Today, the site has been visited by tens of millions of people from every country in the world.
The site tracks critical information, including number of deaths, numbers of cases locally and globally with an interactive map, information on the disease, and a Twitter feed with the latest updates. The resource is updated every minute, and uses information from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other resources. Visit the site: https://ncov2019.live/data.
Wearables Support Monitoring of Coronavirus Patients Wearables have become invaluable in helping fight COVID-19 by helping healthcare professionals to monitor their patients’ vitals with minimal contact. The Shanghai Public Health Center, for example, has been using a continuous temperature sensor to help reduce the spread of coronavirus in China, which has been used by four other hospitals in China.
Once the sensor is applied to the patient, it sends real-time information and sensor readings to health professionals. The Shanghai Public Health Center also applied sensors to monitor heart and respiratory rates among this patient population.
Healthcare professionals in the U.S. are starting to utilize Apple, Fitbit and Samsung fitness trackers, smartwatches and other wearables to track COVID-19 symptoms and help treat patients. As those stricken with COVID-19 begin to overwhelm the nation’s health care system, the lack of sufficient tests makes it difficult for hospitals to make critical decisions about the best care treatments for patients, and where to deploy doctors, nurses, respirators and other scarce care resources.
In response, hospitals are trying to ease this burden by incorporating wearables into their coronavirus efforts. Specifically, they are planning to use these wearables to track the progress of the COVID-19 as it spreads across the nation; identify doctors, nurses and other medical professionals who have contracted the disease quickly; and monitor coronavirus patients to make better decisions about who should be hospitalized. In these times of uncertainty, technology is becoming an increasingly helpful tool to not only help monitor the virus and treat inflicted patients, but also help people continue critical facets of their daily lives, such as working (if they can) to earn an income, continuing their education and staying connected with their loved ones. As the healthcare industry creatively uses these new resources to help save lives, technology is bridging the gap between humans as they remain separated during this public health crisis.
