Covid Device (Covid Operation Vital Information Delivery device) (Adult Module-Version One) for Covid and Post Covid Condition Management Cum Research Through Test Run of a Dynamic Software Incorporated Dedicated Device: A Collaborative Operation Cum Implementation Research Under Digital Health Mission Initiative of India

ABSTRACT

Aim and background: Due to the resurgence of COVID cases many doctors, medical students, and nurses from varied backgrounds, many a time novice to COVID management are deployed in turn from time to time at different COVID care centers and hospitals across India, before they are properly trained and skilled for effective management of COVID and post COVID syndromes, as the disease is relatively new, leading to non-uniform management and documentation. COVID being a contagious disease with newer symptomatology and ongoing research outputs suggesting new guidelines from time to time, which sometimes are conflicting in nature for novice healthcare workers. For uniform and appropriate management to reduce morbidity and mortality, it mandates a unique and effective solution towards guided and error-free disease management, authentic high volume data capture for future research and to trace patient to post COVID condition in the community outside the hospital, virtual patient counselling cum relative visit, generation of the daily patient bulletin, simultaneous teleround of multiple units, and sharing patient's data across multiple specialities and investigation areas. Objective: To have all these above-mentioned facilities over one platform, we aim to test run a cloud-based dynamic mobile application based dedicated device, the C O V I D Device (Covid Operation Vital Information Delivery device) across many hospitals in India simultaneously for COVID and post COVID syndrome management and data retrieval for research. Materials and methods: Two institutes, namely IMS and SUM Hospital and ITER have collaborated to design a cloud-based device having recent COVID guidelines on the management of adult COVID patients. The software has been incorporated into a dedicated handheld device (tablet or android mobile phone), the COVID Device in a dynamic way (when new symptomatology surfaces and new research outcomes on management are published). The important modules pertaining to this COVID Device are Web-based application for Registration Desk and Device-based application for Doctor's Module/Care-givers Module and Patient's/Patient's relative's module. Results: In a pilot, we have successfully test run the COVID device on virtual patients and 2 actual patients in a secondary level COVID ICU and HDU to examine the different functionality of the cloud-based application, namely error-free and guided patient management without missing any point, daily patient relative's counselling and virtual patient visiting by relatives, generating daily patient bulletin, simultaneous tele round of multiple units, and sharing patient's data across multiple specialities and investigation areas and tracing patient to the community after discharge to enquire about post COVID condition and retrieval of data across all module and incorporation of new guideline in a dynamic way and checking the facilities for incorporating other modules namely pediatric module. Conclusion: COVID Device (Adult module) is a very effective tool for COVID and post COVID condition management and research. It has the potential to incorporate other modules namely obstetric, pediatric, and neonatal modules. If used across all hospital of India, it will be a real boost to digital health mission and centralized COVID data management and research in India.