Wisconsin electronic health records company Epic Systems has partnered with a Portland-based company to create a mobile app that allows health care workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic to perform patient screening and triage outside health care sites.
The app is being deployed first to the state of Washington, once the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., to help the state prepare for a surge in coronavirus patients. The app is being shared with other states, according to an announcement from OCHIN, the health information technology nonprofit that collaborated with Epic. The names of the other states using the app was not disclosed.
"A retired nurse, or any other volunteer or staff, with her own smartphone can be up and running in minutes," said Judy Faulkner, founder and CEO of Epic, in a statement. "This allows states, counties, and health systems to increase capacity quickly, which will be helpful especially in hard hit and underserved communities. It has been meaningful to work with Washington state and OCHIN to help patients during this crisis.”
Patients can use the app to self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms and check in to a local emergency care site, the companies stated. Using Epic's technology, patients who are assessed in clinics will be able to electronically link results to their existing medical records. State public health epidemiologists will be able to monitor the app’s incoming data to track trends county by county and do direct patient follow-up.
Epic has annual revenue of roughly $2.7 billion and employs close to 10,000, most of which work from the company's Verona campus.
