Jan 6 2010
In Riverside County, California, one of the 32 states where the H1N1 pandemic continues to be widespread, there were 2478 hospitalizations/reported cases and 30 deaths from H1N1 as of December 16, 2009, and at press time, that number was still climbing. Riverside is the state’s fastest growing county and fifth largest in the country.
“The system makes a huge difference for me as well. Before using LiveProcess, I’d have to call or send e-mails to each hospital to get data and then compile all that information manually. Now I have a central location to collect, store and disseminate critical information.”
“Our hospitals are inundated with suspected and confirmed H1N1 patients,” said Ramon Leon, Hospital Preparedness Program Coordinator for the Riverside County Community Health Agency. “During a normal flu season, emergency rooms are busy, though 2009 H1N1 activity has taken that to a new level.”
The county’s community health agency uses an Internet-based communications platform developed by Verona, NJ-based LiveProcess to manage the flow of information among the county’s 15 hospitals; a tool Leon said has proven to be invaluable.
When the first H1N1 wave hit in April, Riverside County used the platform to create an “event log,” a resource that emergency preparedness officials employ to keep hospitals, public agencies and first responders connected during a crisis. Leon used the tool to post questions, disseminate news and query hospitals about inventory. “Personal protective equipment was highly requested,” Leon said. “When the hospitals were unable to get these materials from their normal suppliers, they typically sought assistance from the county.”
“The hospitals loved getting information via the web because the system was always ‘on’ and the information they needed was in one place,” he added. “The system makes a huge difference for me as well. Before using LiveProcess, I’d have to call or send e-mails to each hospital to get data and then compile all that information manually. Now I have a central location to collect, store and disseminate critical information.”
Leon said that using the event log in the spring was so successful that Riverside County hospitals continue to rely on it to stay abreast of the ever-changing H1N1 crisis. “Our hospitals tell their personnel to use the platform to access the most current guidelines from OSHA, CDC, the state or the county. With everyone using the same resource, there’s less confusion even though there is a massive amount of information that needs to be distributed,” he added.
Leon said he filters all important information through LiveProcess, including updates on guidelines and the pandemic, and resources requests. For example, when the state recently announced the availability of a large cache of personal protective equipment, Leon used a “group notify” communication function within the platform to expedite requests from hospitals and other entities.
“The value of the LiveProcess tool is the way it allows you to gather and distribute information,” Leon said. “When large-scale events like this H1N1 pandemic happen, communication systems often break down. We can’t rely simply on phone calls or emails to collect, maintain, and distribute the information we need. If people don’t get the information they need, or worse, information gets lost, things break down. Using a web-based management tool that saves and archives your data and has no chance of getting lost and is with you at all times is difficult to imagine not having now.”
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