Global technology company, Orion Health announced its solution to manage the COVID-19 pandemic through its patient management platform.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak Orion Health has been working to develop and deploy technological solutions to tackle the strain on healthcare systems. It is dedicated to responding directly to its customer’s specific needs and priorities with a range of different products.
Over the span of two weeks there was a quick change to the way healthcare is delivered, from favouring face-to-face, point-to-point healthcare to using the telehealth and virtual care modalities.
Orion Health’s comprehensive solution aimed to help alleviate the pressure on overburdened global health systems, and support the shift to digital health modalities.
The solution is aimed at reducing admission to hospital and monitoring those who are at low, medium and high risk for COVID-19. It comprises of a number of modules that customers can select from depending on their individual priorities.
The first step is the identification and curation of patients, categorising them to be COVID-19 negative and positive. Highlighting those who would benefit from active monitoring or care as well as tracking their ongoing progress. This allows healthcare providers to maintain the visibility of patients who are presenting symptoms of those concerned they may have had exposure to the virus.
The platform also allows providers to actively engage and manage inbound and outbound patients from the hospital. Patients symptoms can be managed through digital questionnaires that allow providers to triage and stratify populations based on their own clinical protocols and risk thresholds.
Through this health systems can now manage and focus on these most at-risk and reserve the need for one-on-one phone calls or consultations for those individuals who need it most, ensuring visibility over imminent service demand.
Using a patient portal and secure messaging, healthcare providers can communicate directly with their patients to provide negative test results; reducing the burden on healthcare workers who have been telephoning patients – sometimes up to 300 calls per day.
Clinicians can engage with patients through secure, two-way messaging, which allows patients to contact their care providers if required and update them on their symptoms.
Whether customers opt for the entire solution, or pieces, it will help to reduce the burden on hospitals by keeping most people cared for in their own homes. Ultimately, these use case examples allow for the majority of citizens to be tracked and treated in their own homes, while ensuring precious hospital resources are reserved for those who really need them.
“We’ve designed a unique, comprehensive pandemic monitoring solution specifically aimed at reducing the burden COVID-19 is placing on stretched health services globally,” says Orion Health CEO Ian McCrae, who adds that these pressures are exacerbated in regions like New Zealand, which are facing the upcoming winter flu season and GP shortages.
“Health systems are being pushed to their limits and need digital systems that can help them monitor and track the spread of the virus in their region as well as keep people from coming into clinics where they are at risk of infection or infecting others.” [APBN]