Moscow’s backup hospitals and inpatient
clinics for treatment of the coronavirus infection have started using a new
solution as part of the unified digital healthcare platform. The News2 app,
which is integrated into the Unified Medical Information and Analysis System
(EMIAS), helps physicians assess the severity of a patient’s COVID-19 symptoms
and risks of deterioration, and suggests adjustments to treatment tactics where
necessary.
The system is operated on tablets with
specialized software. These allow medics to read the QR codes on a patient’s
hospital identification bracelet or on an identification sheet in an inpatient
clinic and enter data on their condition: heart rate, blood oxygen saturation
level, blood pressure, body temperature, and respiration rate. The system then
calculates the result and assigns the patient to a risk group, highlighting the
relevant category with a specific color.
The patient’s risk score is entered in their
electronic medical record. Physicians can then review both the patient’s
current integrated risk score on the international NEWS2 scale and any changes
to it at any time, together with the baseline data used to generate the
information. Use of this clinical scale significantly improves patient safety,
ensuring that examinations are conducted at predetermined time intervals and
that specific indicators are measured, resulting in timely and optimal
adjustments to patient therapy.
The benefits of the system for physicians
are obvious: when the risk score increases from 3 to 5, for instance, the
clinician can simply decide whether more treatment is necessary or, conversely,
satisfy himself that the treatment is effective if the score subsequently
falls.
The NEWS2 scale is used around the world to
assess the severity of a patient’s condition by interpreting results based on a
sum of scores. These are used to generate a final score for assigning the
patient to a specific risk group.
Digital solutions in Moscow’s healthcare
sector are being implemented jointly by the city’s Department of Health and
Department of Information Technology.
