1. Peculiar COVID-19 Innovations in the Health Sector

In a Roche sponsored advertorial of NRC Media (XTR Branded Content) it is stated that COVID-19 has been an incredible boost for innovations within hospitals. Especially, with regards to health data. https://www.nrc.nl/advertentie/roche/zorgdata-zijn-cruciaal-bij-de-aanpak-van-corona

2. Anesthetist-intensivist Peter Noordzij (St. Antonius Hospital) says:

„If all ICU beds are occupied in a short time, the nursing departments are filling up and there is a great need for extra knowledge and insight into the clinical picture, then you apply unorthodox methods.”

3. Besides being an anesthetist-intensivist Peter Noordzij is also R&D manager: „I like that dynamic to stand between the patients and to work on scientific underpinnings", he states.

4. As soon as ICU/hospital beds were filled to capacity new innovations had to be found. Within St. Antonius Hospital, in a 'hackathon-like' weekend, business intelligence experts and information specialists, together with doctors, developed a dashboard.

5. The goal of this dashboard was to assess the clinical situation of a COVID-19 patient - often lying on his/her stomach and attached to a ventilator. Bundling of all available data allowed for early detection of a flare-up of the disease.

6. In addition Noordzij used this hectic period to pay extra attention to the screening of vulnerable persons, using the 'Antonius Geriatric Evaluation Tool' (AGET). The use of data plays a special role.

7. „We want to be able to estimate at a much earlier stage, whether and if so, which care makes sense. Is ICU treatment of an older person with Covid-19 useful?", Noordzij states.

8. For this purpose a working method was devised that was based on the existing Electronic Patient Dossier (EPD). Some relevant questions about self-reliance and exercise tolerance were added to the EPD.

9. These questions included:

Can a patient wash and dress themselves?
Maintain a brisk walking pace for some time?

This information provided Noordzij and his colleagues a patient risk profile, which formed the basis for a discussion with the patient and his/her family.

10. This one-way discussion is of course a euphemism for triage, the control valve that closes when ICU/hospital occupancy reaches capacity.

11. The 'Anonius COVID-19 Home Monitoring (ACHM)' app was another example of the lighting fast switching at St. Antonius Hospital. This app allows for sending patients home early/immediately in case of (near) full ICU/hospital capacity.

12. The app was complemented with a pulse-ox meter, a tank of oxygen, and 24/7 telephone access to the home monitoring team, who of course had a handy dashboard to see the single measured parameter (oxygen level).

13. Pulmonologist Renske Vorselaars, together with 2 assistants, developed the ACHM app, as she had already some experience in monitoring COPD patients. „Because of the high pressure on the nursing wards, we had to start thinking creatively.”, she says.

14. All the surveyed treated patients were of course immensely satisfied with all these incredible Dutch innovations at St. Antonius Hospital according to the customer survey.