Digital tool to identify low and high-risk Covid patients

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Positive Covid-19 cases will be notified by text message and asked to fill in an online form to assess whether they can self-manage safely at home, or will need some monitoring and support.

The Ministry of Health’s new self-reporting tool, developed by Abletech, is being used more widely as part of phase two of the government’s Omicron response.

Any positive Covid-19 cases will receive a text notification with an access code and link to the Covid-19 contact tracing form which takes around 30 minutes to fill out and asks about symptoms, household contacts and high-risk locations.

Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield said at a media briefing on February 16 that positive cases were previously notified via a phone call, but the large number of daily cases (which have hit more than 1000) necessitates digital tools being used to reduce pressure on the health system.

The Ministry’s primary care lead, Joe Bourne, said the form assesses people's clinical or welfare needs and any issues around self-isolating.

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“All of that information then gets pushed out to the appropriate providers, so that they can take the actions that are needed in order to provide the care required,” he said,

People identified as low risk will be pointed to information on a newly developed Covid-19 Health Hub, about how to self-isolate safely and what to do if they need help.

“Somebody on the self-management pathway can expect very little contact from the health system or any of the other agencies,” explained Bourne.

A number of regional Care Coordination hubs have been set up and have oversight of all positive cases and whether they have filled in the assessment form, or need to be contacted via phone.

“The hubs have a responsibility to make sure that nobody slips through the net,” he said.

“This self-management pathway won't work for all our priority groups, but will create the capacity in the health system in order to be able to provide that higher level of care for priority populations.”

People will also receive a text notification when their self-isolation period has ended and these official text messages can be used in lieu of a medical certificate from a doctor.

Ministry of Health general manager of national digital services Michael Dreyer said at the press conference that previous experience with My Covid Record and My Vaccine Pass showed that 80 – 90 percent of Kiwis were able to use the digital tools being made available.

The remaining 10-20 percent need to be supported more directly, often by local providers. Websites and tools are data free for the public in most cases via the Ministry’s Sponsored Data initiative.

Chair of GPNZ Jeff Lowe says experience from the northern region of New Zealand shows age, ethnicity and vaccination status “give us a really good idea of who is most likely to suffer negative outcomes from Covid”.

GPs can combine the self-assessment data with their own assessment of other risk factors, such as co-morbidities.

“Then we can cluster support around high-risk patients to ensure they know what to do and when to seek help,” he explains.

If you would like to provide feedback on this news story, please contact the editor Rebecca McBeth.

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