Someone has tested positive for COVID-19. Now emergency health officials alongside volunteers need to investigate any contact the individual may have had with others, and make sure these people self-isolate or receive appropriate testing.
The process of doing this is called contact tracing.
Contact tracing is an invaluable part of COVID-19 management – if nothing is done to mitigate the spread of the virus within an area or community, there is a potential for a significantly higher infection rate, leading to more hospitalizations and fewer resources across the board.
The contact tracing process requires a lot of manual investigation by multiple individuals in order to be even remotely effective. Traces sometimes need to go back several weeks per confirmed case due to the virus’s incubation period and the fact that most patients do not show any symptoms until much later.
This means, depending on how diligent a patient has been with social distancing efforts, that there could potentially be a significant number of locations and individuals to trace and contact, which can be a burden for medical personnel and volunteers to try and manage manually.
Is there a way that the contact tracing management process be streamlined?
An all-in-one platform could be the solution to more effective and scalable contact tracing.
Here are just some of the benefits such a solution can afford.
Centralized Management
With the help of an all-in-one platform, users are able to map out identified contact locations and manage the contact tracing investigation process, as well as notify any suspected contacts all from one central location.
This will ensure all collected information and data resides in one system, where all users can have access to it if they need to. A centralized solution helps decrease any potential overlap between investigations and allows the need for collaboration to be identified more quickly and easily.
Visual Data Displays
The ability to have all important information displayed in a visual manner can do wonders when it comes to identifying trends and patterns in the contact tracing data that is collected and input into the system.
By mapping out all the specific locations that have been identified by the patients themselves as having to be investigated for possible transmission of the COVID-19 virus, and being able to identify the status of the investigation occurring at these locations, contact tracing volunteers can easily track their progress and determine where outbreaks may be more likely to originate in the future.
These visual mapping and reporting interfaces allow for comprehensive management of the contact tracing process and ensure that no investigations slip through the cracks.
Easy Transfer of Contacts to Automated Communication Campaigns
Once contact tracing volunteers and medical officials have identified and notified those who may have come into contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case and told them to self-isolate, what is the typical next step?
Medical officials will need to continue to reach out to these individuals to monitor any symptoms and ensure they are self-isolating for the entire 14-day period. While this outreach process is usually manual, the great thing about using an all-in-one solution is that it doesn’t have to be!
All these communication processes can be set up in the platform and initiated automatically using the contact information that is already stored from the contact tracing investigation. These processes can be as simple as sending a regular email, SMS, or phone notification with a reminder to self-isolate, or as complex as sending a weekly form that can be used to collect requests for supplies to be delivered that will only be sent as long as the contact meets a certain set of criteria.
Having an all-in-one solution allows for the easy transference of contacts from one campaign into the next, as all their contact data is readily available and there is no need to import data to another solution.
Want to learn more?
To find out how your organization can leverage an all-in-one solution to help with COVID-19 contact tracing management, check out this information sheet, which will outline how SimplyCast’s COVID-19 Emergency Communication and Management Solution can be utilized to manage the process.
Click the button below to request a demo of the SimplyCast solution.
