A Q&A with Washington State’s Health Care Authority

We heard you partnered with the electronic health record giant Epic and OCHIN–a health care innovation nonprofit–to create an app in six days to help providers test and triage patients who present with fevers, coughs, or other COVID-like symptoms.

Chen: Yes. Eighty percent of our hospitals use Epic. The app will help providers easily collect information in non-traditional settings, like in a tent where people are triaging patients or a parking lot where they come for testing. It can be installed on personal devices and used by someone without specialized training; Epic actually tested the interface among their culinary and landscaping staff. Users can go through a checklist to see if someone should receive a COVID-19 test. After that, they fill in basic demographic information that either creates or links to an existing Epic CareEverywhere record. An Epic-based app then allows capture of vitals, symptoms, and other documentation.

Read the full interview from Milbank Memorial Fund.