Design, Implementation, and Validation of an Automated, Algorithmic COVID-19 Triage Tool.
Appl Clin Inform
; 12(5): 1021-1028, 2021 10.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1500797
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
We describe the design, implementation, and validation of an online, publicly available tool to algorithmically triage patients experiencing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)-like symptoms.METHODS:
We conducted a chart review of patients who completed the triage tool and subsequently contacted our institution's phone triage hotline to assess tool- and clinician-assigned triage codes, patient demographics, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) test data, and health care utilization in the 30 days post-encounter. We calculated the percentage of concordance between tool- and clinician-assigned triage categories, down-triage (clinician assigning a less severe category than the triage tool), and up-triage (clinician assigning a more severe category than the triage tool) instances.RESULTS:
From May 4, 2020 through January 31, 2021, the triage tool was completed 30,321 times by 20,930 unique patients. Of those 30,321 triage tool completions, 51.7% were assessed by the triage tool to be asymptomatic, 15.6% low severity, 21.7% moderate severity, and 11.0% high severity. The concordance rate, where the triage tool and clinician assigned the same clinical severity, was 29.2%. The down-triage rate was 70.1%. Only six patients were up-triaged by the clinician. 72.1% received a COVID-19 test administered by our health care system within 14 days of their encounter, with a positivity rate of 14.7%.CONCLUSION:
The design, pilot, and validation analysis in this study show that this COVID-19 triage tool can safely triage patients when compared with clinician triage personnel. This work may signal opportunities for automated triage of patients for conditions beyond COVID-19 to improve patient experience by enabling self-service, on-demand, 24/7 triage access.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Triage
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Appl Clin Inform
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S-0041-1736627
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