A strategy for real time improvement (RTI) in communication during the H1N1 emergency response

Seidl, Isaac; Johnson, Andrew; Mantel, Peta; Aitken, Peter

doi:10.1071/ah09826

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…2) Rapid evaluation, prior to and during the management of a health emergency, of the effectiveness of the services provided by health authorities, in order to determine how best to meet the needs of providers. Brief internet surveys have the potential to gather rapid feedback from providers in the community [27] and allow authorities to identify unmet needs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A COVID-19 call center for healthcare providers: dealing with rapidly evolving health policy guidelines

Glatman‐Freedman

Bromberg

Ram

et al. 2020

Isr J Health Policy Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Communication between health authorities and healthcare providers is an essential element of the response to public health emergencies. Although call centers can facilitate such communication, no published reports describing their outcomes exist. In advance of the expected COVID-19 outbreak in Israel, the Israel Center for Disease Control established a call center dedicated to queries from healthcare professionals. Methods The call center operated from February 5, 2020 (week 6) to May 14, 2020 (week 20). Data on calls received, including date and time, caller characteristics, questions and responses were recorded in a database designed for this purpose. The volume, sources and content of queries were analyzed. Results In 15 weeks of operation, the call center responded to 6623 calls. The daily number of calls ranged from 1 to 371 (mean 79.8, median 40), peaking on week 12, 2 weeks prior to a peak in new COVID-19 cases. Callers were predominantly physicians (62.4%), nurses (18.7%) and administrators (4.4%). Most worked in primary care clinics (74.2%) or hospitals (8.7%). Among physicians, 42.3% were family physicians or internists, and 10.0% were pediatricians. The issues most commonly addressed were home quarantine (21.6%), criteria for suspected cases (20.6%), and SARS-CoV2 testing (14.1%). Twenty-five percent of questions involved requests for clarifications of MOH guidelines regarding travel restrictions, clinic management, triage of symptomatic patients, routine medical and dental care, recommended precautions for health care workers with preexisting medical conditions, and other matters. A total of 119 queries were not resolved on the basis of existing guidelines and were referred to MOH headquarters. Conclusions This is the first report of a call center established to serve the needs of healthcare providers seeking guidance on COVID-19 management, and to facilitate communication of providers’ concerns to the central health authority. Our work indicates that a central call center for healthcare providers can facilitate the development, implementation and amendment of guidelines and should be an integral element of the early response to public health emergencies. Real-time analysis of the call data may reveal important trends requiring prompt attention.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A COVID-19 call center for healthcare providers: dealing with rapidly evolving health policy guidelines

Glatman‐Freedman

Bromberg

Ram

et al. 2020

Isr J Health Policy Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The importance of the credibility of the person delivering the messages was also identified, with health professionals rather than politicians being considered more likely to instil confidence in the community 37,53 . The findings of a recent Australian study echoed the importance of credibility, and also emphasised the need for local sources of information 55 .…”

Section: The Planning Context For Pandemicsmentioning

confidence: 97%

The Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza outbreak in Australia: The impact on Emergency Departments

Joseph

Shaban

Arbon

et al. 2010

Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aims of this study were to identify the impact of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza on Australian Emergency Departments (EDs) and their staff, and to inform planning, preparedness, and response management arrangements for future pandemics, as well as managing infectious patients presenting to EDs in everyday practice. MethodsThis study involved three elements:1. The first element of the study was an examination of published material including published statistics. Standard literature research methods were used to identify relevant published articles. In addition, data about ED demand was obtained from Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) publications, with several state health departments providing more detailed data.2. The second element of the study was a survey of Directors of Emergency Medicine identified with the assistance of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM). This survey retrieved data about demand for ED services and elicited qualitative comments on the impact of the pandemic on ED management.3. The third element of the study was a survey of ED staff. A questionnaire was emailed to members of three professional colleges-the ACEM; the Australian College of Emergency Nursing (ACEN); and the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia (CENA). The overall response rate for the survey was 18.4%, with 618 usable responses from 3355 distributed questionnaires. Topics covered by the survey included ED conditions during the (H1N1) 2009 influenza pandemic; information received about Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza; pandemic plans; the impact of the pandemic on ED staff with respect to stress; illness prevention measures; support received from others in work role; staff and others' illness during the pandemic; other factors causing ED staff to miss work during the pandemic; and vaccination against Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed. ResultsThe results obtained from Directors of Emergency Medicine quantifying the impact of the pandemic were too limited for interpretation. Data sourced from health departments and published sources demonstrated an increase in influenza-like illness (ILI) presentations of between one and a half and three times the normal level of presentations of ILIs. Directors of Emergency Medicine reported a reasonable level of preparation for the pandemic, with most reporting the use of pandemic plans that translated into relatively effective operational infection control responses. Directors reported a highly significant impact on EDs and their staff from the pandemic. Growth in demand and related ED congestion were highly significant factors causing distress within the departments. Most (64%) respondents established a 'flu clinic' either as part ofiii Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza Outbreak in Australia: Impact on Emergency Departments.iv Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza Outbreak in Australia: Impact on Emergency Departments.

show abstract

“…Gaps in a disaster communication plan such as technical or complex instructions [4] can leave groups vulnerable to misunderstanding the message, while methods of dissemination [5-8] and demographics [7,9] can result in the message never reaching certain target populations. Other studies have focused on learning lessons from the groups responding to the disaster, including healthcare professionals [8,10] and US governmental agencies [11]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparing for effective communications during disasters: lessons from a World Health Organization quality improvement project

Medford‐Davis

Kapur

2014

Int J Emerg Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundOne hundred ninety-four member nations turn to the World Health Organization (WHO) for guidance and assistance during disasters. Purposes of disaster communication include preventing panic, promoting appropriate health behaviors, coordinating response among stakeholders, advocating for affected populations, and mobilizing resources.MethodsA quality improvement project was undertaken to gather expert consensus on best practices that could be used to improve WHO protocols for disaster communication. Open-ended surveys of 26 WHO Communications Officers with disaster response experience were conducted. Responses were categorized to determine the common themes of disaster response communication and areas for practice improvement.ResultsDisasters where the participants had experience included 29 outbreaks of 13 different diseases in 16 countries, 18 natural disasters of 6 different types in 15 countries, 2 technical disasters in 2 countries, and ten conflicts in 10 countries.ConclusionRecommendations to build communications capacity prior to a disaster include pre-writing public service announcements in multiple languages on questions that frequently arise during disasters; maintaining a database of statistics for different regions and types of disaster; maintaining lists of the locally trusted sources of information for frequently affected countries and regions; maintaining email listservs of employees, international media outlet contacts, and government and non-governmental organization contacts that can be used to rapidly disseminate information; developing a global network with 24-h cross-coverage by participants from each time zone; and creating a central electronic sharepoint where all of these materials can be accessed by communications officers around the globe.

show abstract

A strategy for real time improvement (RTI) in communication during the H1N1 emergency response

Cited by 10 publications

References 11 publications

A COVID-19 call center for healthcare providers: dealing with rapidly evolving health policy guidelines

A COVID-19 call center for healthcare providers: dealing with rapidly evolving health policy guidelines

The Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza outbreak in Australia: The impact on Emergency Departments

Preparing for effective communications during disasters: lessons from a World Health Organization quality improvement project

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About