The swift onset of the COVID-19 virus put the health system at risk for potential shutdowns and disruptions to care delivery operations. The urgent need to put preventative systems in place to rapidly test for the virus and process results to manage increasing volumes of infection resulted in the design and implementation of response strategies to ensure all campuses were safe for employees, learners and patients. 

The Clinical Innovation Center worked with the Offices of Population Health, Occupational Health, Marketing and Communications, Patient Experience and other Health System entities to quickly implement safety measures and iterate over time to improve effeciencies in screening, testing and return to work actions. 

Visitors, patients and employees completed a digital screener answering questions about symptoms, exposures, recent infection, travel, and vaccination status. In the initial version everyone had to show results of their screener to Guest Services at the building entrance to gain entry. The consequence was significant lines with people waiting to get into the building.

In a next iteration, the screeners were linked to badge readers eliminating the need for employees to show their screening results at entry. 

Email reminders were sent to employees and their managers to reinforce compliance with completing the screener.

Easy access to Color tests  significantly increased the volume of self testing as shown in the orange bars.